Presumably this is because of the social convention where you’re expected to back up any public belief with arguments, so that other people can attempt to poke holes in them. I find this strange because the arguments people present rarely have anything to do with why they believe those things.
We post our beliefs hoping to convince other people. Even if we’re not certain of a belief, we generally intend for the readers to approach our own degree of confidence.
We give the best arguments we know for the beliefs (and if we’re good rationalists and are also honest and confident, we also post the best arguments we know against them.) Sometimes these aren’t the true reasons we hold those beliefs, because we’re not luminous or introspective enough. But they are still arguments that can be evaluated and they are legitimate, admissible evidence that people should indeed update on.
If we didn’t give any evidence but just stated our beliefs, then the only reason anyone would be convinced by them would be that they trusted our strength as rationalists. And such trust is generally misplaced, precisely because as you point out, even when we try to honestly analyze why we believe something, we are often mistaken, biased, etc.
If you also consider dishonest, manipulative, or just plainly irrational actors, then the mere fact they claim to believe something is very hard to update on correctly. Whereas the justifications they give for the belief can still be evaluated and provide at least some evidence.
We post our beliefs hoping to convince other people. Even if we’re not certain of a belief, we generally intend for the readers to approach our own degree of confidence.
We give the best arguments we know for the beliefs (and if we’re good rationalists and are also honest and confident, we also post the best arguments we know against them.) Sometimes these aren’t the true reasons we hold those beliefs, because we’re not luminous or introspective enough. But they are still arguments that can be evaluated and they are legitimate, admissible evidence that people should indeed update on.
If we didn’t give any evidence but just stated our beliefs, then the only reason anyone would be convinced by them would be that they trusted our strength as rationalists. And such trust is generally misplaced, precisely because as you point out, even when we try to honestly analyze why we believe something, we are often mistaken, biased, etc.
If you also consider dishonest, manipulative, or just plainly irrational actors, then the mere fact they claim to believe something is very hard to update on correctly. Whereas the justifications they give for the belief can still be evaluated and provide at least some evidence.