What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?

[Jademcgrail]

Hi everyone.
I am in my third year of university and am doing research for my dissertation.
My chosen topic is; What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?
I myself am a Atheist and I have never had a change in my belief but am interested in other people who have and why.
If anyone has the time I would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.The answers will be anonymous


*link removed*
(Remove spaces)
Thanks everyone x

 

[Willamena]

Isn't it kind of a leading question?

 

[Infinitum]

Isn't it kind of a leading question?

It sounds like one for sure. It's an application of the "there are no atheists in foxholes", which has been criticized plenty and, in my opinion, for good reason. A better question in my opinion would be what makes us change beliefs in the first place.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

When our given model of the universe fails to explain phenomena appropriately, it tends to be updated.

 

[Windwalker]

Hi everyone.
I myself am a Atheist and I have never had a change in my belief but am interested in other people who have and why.

You've never had any sort of existential crisis? The problem with a study like this is you can't relate to human experience as a human. It's nothing you can understand by being some observer. You can't study this and really get what it is.

That said, when you have all your assumptions shaken loose through whatever sort of trauma, it is actually a good thing. You may feel lost at the time, but it can be an opportunity to rebuild a better structure for your life that matches the new way of thinking that experience has opened you to. When that happens, growth happens. You build on what came before, but for many it becomes a process of divorcing yourself entirely from your past, being an "atheist", for instance, as you declare yourself by name as "not this". Eventually, this new "this" wears weak itself and you again modify your structures to support your new mode of consciousness, etc.

You see, a little personal experience goes a long way to talk about these things.

 

[Father Heathen]

In some cases it serves as a coping mechanism for extreme emotional duress or psychological trauma.

 

[Jiggerj]

A better question in my opinion would be what makes us change beliefs in the first place.

An even better question is what the heck is this third year university student studying that would require such a topic? The only subject that comes to mind is sociology, but the question before us doesn't seem to fit third-year studies. Does it?

 

[Jademcgrail]

I am studying Special effects make-up.
For your dissertation you are able to choose any topic you want,however mine does link to my FMP.My dissertation title and what will be included has been confirmed by my tutor and he more than impressed with my chosen topic.

 

[Jademcgrail]

Sorry my title is actually 'Why do we change our beliefs in times of need?' I have no idea why I wrote what I did,I guess it didn't click in the old brain :')

 

[Windwalker]

Sorry my title is actually 'Why do we change our beliefs in times of need?' I have no idea why I wrote what I did,I guess it didn't click in the old brain :')

I already addressed this somewhat but thought I might be able to put it more succinctly. Belief systems are structural supports that we use to interpret and translate the world of experience into mental models of reality our psyches can process to help ground that experience for us. When the experience of the world goes beyond what someone's present system is able to adequately serve them doing this, then it forces the individual to:

1) Either find another system that has enough symbolic language they can use to aid them in finding stability again, or

2) They outgrow any similar systems which operate using the same basic mode of thought but with different symbols, and shift their mode of consciousness entirely to a new mode of thinking, moving into uncharted territory and needing to find and entirely new set of structures to support that new level of conscious awareness.

The latter occurs when the current mode of basic thought has be outgrown and no substitute symbols will suffice. So really, it's the same process, but the latter results in a whole foundation shift, rather than just changing beliefs. And the process of finding a new language set for a new level, can be a long and challenging process, as opposed to just changing beliefs, such as flipping between Christianity to New Age or to Islam, for instance.

 

[Sir Doom]

Hi everyone.

Hi not-everyone.

I am in my third year of university and am doing research for my dissertation.

Lucky dog.

My chosen topic is; What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?

Same thing that makes us change our beliefs every other time. New information.

I myself am a Atheist and I have never had a change in my belief but am interested in other people who have and why.

What you mean to say is that you have always been an atheist. To say you never change your beliefs is a ludicrous notion. Everyone's beliefs change over time. There is no stopping it. What you believe is new in this moment. This is not to say you are constantly switching from atheism to theism... but neither of those terms is all that well defined considering the subject. When you say you are an atheist, it means something else to you now than it did yesterday and 5 years ago, etc.

If anyone has the time I would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.The answers will be anonymous

Can you make my answers non-anonymous? That way if anyone in your class feels like arguing with me they can come here and do so?

 

[Caladan]

Sorry my title is actually 'Why do we change our beliefs in times of need?' I have no idea why I wrote what I did,I guess it didn't click in the old brain :')

Try Spain and Portugal towards the end of the 15th century, the political atmosphere in that time and place makes your question highly relevant for this time period and may give you surprising and interesting answers.

 

[michel]

Hi everyone.
I am in my third year of university and am doing research for my dissertation.
My chosen topic is; What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?
I myself am a Atheist and I have never had a change in my belief but am interested in other people who have and why.
If anyone has the time I would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.The answers will be anonymous



Thanks everyone x

I was going to answer that my beliefs have never "changed in times of need" - but, to be truthful, when I was a teenager (having always believed in a deity), I went through some very bad times, and I - literally- "formulated" a belief system in that allowed me to survive (without suffering psychologically or mentally).

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

When I changed my belief system to what it it now, I can't really say that it was out of a conscious need. I was not having a crisis of faith, my life was perfectly peachy, and as a matter of fact I had really let go of the need to find a religious structure.

What changed? As someone above mentioned, I received new information. I learned something about myself and was presented with a set of ideas that I had not encountered before and this caused me to ask myself what I believed and what I wanted to do about it. It is very difficult to "unknow" something. It is possible to live in denial, but you cannot truly rid yourself of the knowledge. (Short of blunt force trauma to the head, I guess).

:camp:

 

[dgirl1986]

Hope and desperation most likely

 

[idea]

I changed my beliefs, but it was not through some crisis situation. I was taking a comparative religions class in which I had to attend the religious services of another faith for a class assignment. I went to a Mormon church because it was one of the only groups I had never met with before, had an unsolicited spiritual experience there (I was not going to have a spiritual experience, just to take notes and complete a class assignment) ... I felt the literal presence of God there for the first time in my life - scared me, I didn't know when people said "did you feel the Spirit?" they were talking about something that was actually real... once I experienced that it was real, I joined the church, and have been a happy member ever sense (going on ~ 16 years now)

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I would suggest as a subject for a thesis It is probably not true for more than a small fraction of people.

I have got to be 78 with my views never changing in times of need. Why should they?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?

A protean or variable nature.

 

[Qasim555]

Great post. nice sharing. buddy.

 

[Walkntune]

Hi everyone.
I am in my third year of university and am doing research for my dissertation.
My chosen topic is; What makes us change our beliefs in times of need?
I myself am a Atheist and I have never had a change in my belief but am interested in other people who have and why.
If anyone has the time I would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.The answers will be anonymous


*link removed*
(Remove spaces)
Thanks everyone x

Intuition is the gatekeeper at the most critical juncture.(Einstein)