Why people believe whatever they want to... unless...
One does not generally have the capacity to directly choose their beliefs. For example, I could likely not get myself to start believing in Dragons no matter how much I wished they were real or how much I wanted to believe in them. Rather than directly choosing our beliefs, we may have the a bility to manipulate them indirectly. In order to do that, we have to understand why people believe things: The Four factors determining belief 1). The people they identify with as their “society” believes it. 2). The individuals they identify as authority figures believe it. 3). They have examined evidence from a trusted source that supports the belief. 4). They have personal experience that supports the belief. So if you want to start or stop believing something, try to manipulate these four factors. Sometimes people find themselves in a situation where one or more of the four factors influencing their beliefs do not align. When this occurs, they may experience cognitive dissonance. To...