PureX
Veteran Member
In this case they did not change their mind, it was changed for them by circumstance. So this is not a relevant scenario to this question.
Yes, I agree with this. And it is the fundamental problem with belief.
Believing can and often does become a self-righteous bias so strong that we simply will not let go of it. And therefor we claim that we can't let go of it, because that's how it feels to us. But in truth, it's just a righteousness bias that we have become so comfortable with and so dependent upon that we simply will not doubt it's presumed righteousness. And because we will not doubt it, we feel like we cannot possibly change our understanding of it. But we could actually choose to doubt it, at any time, and thereby recognize other viable cognitive possibilities. We just won't, and therefor think we can't.
It's similar to an addiction. Can an addict stop using their drug of choice? Yes, but no. They can, but they will not, because they beleve that they MUST HAVE IT to live. Even as it is killing them.
This is the desperate trap of the "true believer". And why they become so unteachable, and unchangeable. It's the trap that the religious zealots fall into. And it's the trap that the 'scientism cult' has fallen into. A trap that not even reason or reality can unlock, because they simpy will not let it.
Because belief is a bias, and if we don't understand this, and respect it, that belief can become a very dangerous cognitive trap.
They shouldn't. What we need to do is stop falling into this bias of "belief". So that we can keep an open mind and heart toward our experience of the world. But that will mean we have to humble ourselves, and accept that there is a great deal we simply do not know. And this is scary for people who have been living with the comfortable delusion that they can know things.
They should accept the fact that God CAN exist. And that they will never have the evidence to prove otherwise. Because that is the truth of the moment.
Of course they are. And they are so intent on maintaining this phony self-righteous stance, even in the face of the obvious irrationality of it, that they lie, constantly, about it. They are no different from the religious zealots that likewise insist on the righteousness of their stance even in the face of the total irrationality and dishonesty of it. It's the disease of the "true believer". It drives the same result whether one chooses gods or no gods. And there are many other manifestation of this biased "belief" syndrome; people who believe that the whole of humanity is their innate enemy and that they must fight and compete with everyone for their very survival. People that believe their innate value (and everyone else's) depends upon how much material wealth they can accumulate. People who believe drugs or alcohol of sex or food or gambling, or dangerous behavior, or whatever else, are the only things that make life worth living. And on and on and on. We humans fall into the "true believer" trap in all kinds of ways. And we fight to stay there even when it's destroying our minds, and often our bodies. And we think we cannot possibly change our "truth". Whatever it is.
But we can.
Of course they see no evidence. They define it out of existence even before they look for it. That's the bias of the "true believer". Plenty of theists do the same thing.
The problem is the BELIEF TRAP, not God.
Well, it's your bias. And you could humble yourself at any time, and let go of it.
That doesn't mean you'd have to deny the existence of God. Just that you'd have to accept that you simply don't know. The belief trap is all about pretending to know what we don't actually know. It's that pretense that we become addicted to, and then will not give up.
