Belief and behaviour.
Offline Statement:
All beliefs influence our decision making and behaviour.
Argument:
(1) Belief is inherently tied to our psychology. (2) Our psychology is inherently tied to our decision making and behaviour. (3) Therefore we have a link between what we believe to be the case, to our psychology, to our decision making and behaviour.
By definition, if our decision making is tied to our psychology, and our beliefs are tied to our psychology, then it is necessarily the case that our beliefs are tied to our decision making: belief > psychology > decision making, etc.
Our psychology defines who we are, thus anything which affects our psychology will necessarily have some influence on us.
Anyone disagree?
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring" -- Carl Sagan
- Login to post comments
That is, in fact, how I define belief. Belief in X is when you are willing to act as if X were true. It is inherently connected to behaviour, or at least potential behaviour. If I really believed Allah was going to bring all my family to heaven with me, flying a plane into a building is something I might be willing to do. That's why I take religious nuts at their word when they say they really believe something. I think a lot of the post-modernist type crowd have so desensitized themselves against any sincere belief at all, that they don't really think when zealots cry out "God is great!" that they really believe it. They think it's just 'their language' for expressing despair at 'Western oppression'. To think that someone could so sincerely believe in the afterlife that they are willing to blow themselves up would just cause way too much cognitive dissonance.
Beliefs influence actions. It's a no-brainer to me.
Wonderist on Facebook — Support the idea of wonderism by 'liking' the Wonderism page — or join the open Wonderism group to take part in the discussion!
Gnu Atheism Facebook group — All gnu-friendly RRS members welcome (including Luminon!) — Try something gnu!
Yeah, what natural said. I don't think it's possible to separate belief from action, as so many behaviours are dependent upon a person's beliefs.
If I believe that I can breathe underwater, and I really, really believe it ... I think you know that at some point I'm going to drown. Most likely in an Aquaman suit, adding to the tragicomedy of the situation, but illustrating the point vividly.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
this is interesting example similar to Taverskys Prospect Theory when your beliefs DONT effect your decision-making correctly:
they are both presenting the same problem -- the difference is that one is from the standpoint of a gain while the other is from a losing position. While decision-making should be dependent only on odds and risk tolerance, our answers are often influenced by what's known as framing. There is no correct answer to these two questions -- but if you answered 1 and 2 differently, ask yourself why. It turns out that humans are more likely to gamble to avoid losses than to achieve gains, even when it is not statistically in their best interests.
Would you say go as far as to say it is irrational to not choose the same for 1 and 2?
That's not a case of beliefs NOT affecting actions. It's a case of people having silly beliefs. They believe the two situations are somehow different, even though they aren't.
Edit: Actually, those two situations are different, depending on your situation. If I have $500 and I need $250 in order to pay off my bookie, or else he'll break my knees, then I better not risk losing more than $250. However, I might also in this situation take the chance to win $1000, since I could use that additional money to get a liver transplant (if I'm a recovering alcoholic, for instance) and hence lengthen my lifespan by several years.
Wonderist on Facebook — Support the idea of wonderism by 'liking' the Wonderism page — or join the open Wonderism group to take part in the discussion!
Gnu Atheism Facebook group — All gnu-friendly RRS members welcome (including Luminon!) — Try something gnu!
In a sense yes I agree, but I would not say it is NOT irrational to choose the sure $250 for number #1 and the chance to not lose anything for #2 which is what most people would do. Isnt that the whole point of prospect theory? People's utilities are paradoxical.
Of course, you're correct that people's utilities are paradoxical (and sometimes so oversimplified that it's not even "modeling" anymore, it's just screwing around). But is your point, then, that given two choices that have the same end result, the belief is irrelevant? I'd agree, but you seem to have cancelled out the variable in question on purpose.
If you were to present me with a choice between two pens that wrote in the same colour, and you said, "The colour they write in doesn't matter", I'd have to agree with you, but that's because it's not something that I could choose.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
So, if I believe I have free will, then I really have free will?
"Scientists animated by the purpose of proving they are purposeless constitute an interesting subject for study." - Alfred North Whitehead
No. I am saying believing in X will affect your behaviour, not that believing in X means X is true.
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring" -- Carl Sagan
Yes, I think understand.
So, if I believe that I have free will, then how does that change my behavior? Or conversely, if I believe in determinism, how does that change my behavior?
"Scientists animated by the purpose of proving they are purposeless constitute an interesting subject for study." - Alfred North Whitehead
Some one might use determinism as an excuse to give up. e.g. "I can't stop smoking - my actions are biologically determined"
On the other hand, someone's belief free will might make them insensitive to things beyond people's control. e.g. Tourette Syndrome
These are perhaps bad examples these are naive versions of free will and determinism, ones that people don't tend to actually believe.
The point is how a person's philosophy and beliefs will influence how they act.
Agreed. Certainly, beliefs influence behavior. I was simply asking how the belief in "free will/determinism" influences behavior. And the answer to that question seems to have many implications for us as individuals and as a society.
"Scientists animated by the purpose of proving they are purposeless constitute an interesting subject for study." - Alfred North Whitehead