So, you pick an example with no emotional valence. But let’s suppose instead that I have reason to believe that I’m perfectly safe, but find myself believing that someone is going to kill me in my sleep. This would not stop me from telling people I’m perfectly safe, or from giving the reasons that show I’m perfectly safe, or from accepting a similar $100 bet. It might, however, prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep.
Is that not a thing that matters about the belief that I’m safe?
I expected ChristianKI might say that you would be lying, if you tell people that the sky is blue in my hypothetical situation. He hasn’t responded, so maybe he does not think this. In any case, I would deny that it is a lie to tell people something that you know you have good reasons to believe, however you feel about it when you do it.
In any case, when I first made the claim, I said that we have direct write access to almost everything important about a belief, not everything important simply. And in particular, we don’t have have write access to how we feel about them. I agree that could be something important, but it is relatively minor compared to all sorts of other things that result from beliefs, like external relationships and real world actions.
In theory we could describe this same situation in two different ways: by saying, “I can’t control my beliefs,” and then we would be implicitly identifying our beliefs with those feelings. Or by saying, “I can control my beliefs,” and then we would be implicitly identifying our beliefs with a pattern of speaking, acting, and consciously controlled thinking. It is pointless to ask which of these is true: either could be true, if that’s what we meant by a belief. The question is which is a better idea for practical purposes. And it seems to me better to say, “I can control my beliefs,” because saying the other thing tends to make us forget many of our options (for example winning good bets.)
Also, another advantage is that in practice what I am suggesting tends to modify the feelings as well, although indirectly, and not always completely.
So, you pick an example with no emotional valence. But let’s suppose instead that I have reason to believe that I’m perfectly safe, but find myself believing that someone is going to kill me in my sleep. This would not stop me from telling people I’m perfectly safe, or from giving the reasons that show I’m perfectly safe, or from accepting a similar $100 bet. It might, however, prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep.
Is that not a thing that matters about the belief that I’m safe?
I expected ChristianKI might say that you would be lying, if you tell people that the sky is blue in my hypothetical situation. He hasn’t responded, so maybe he does not think this. In any case, I would deny that it is a lie to tell people something that you know you have good reasons to believe, however you feel about it when you do it.
In any case, when I first made the claim, I said that we have direct write access to almost everything important about a belief, not everything important simply. And in particular, we don’t have have write access to how we feel about them. I agree that could be something important, but it is relatively minor compared to all sorts of other things that result from beliefs, like external relationships and real world actions.
In theory we could describe this same situation in two different ways: by saying, “I can’t control my beliefs,” and then we would be implicitly identifying our beliefs with those feelings. Or by saying, “I can control my beliefs,” and then we would be implicitly identifying our beliefs with a pattern of speaking, acting, and consciously controlled thinking. It is pointless to ask which of these is true: either could be true, if that’s what we meant by a belief. The question is which is a better idea for practical purposes. And it seems to me better to say, “I can control my beliefs,” because saying the other thing tends to make us forget many of our options (for example winning good bets.)
Also, another advantage is that in practice what I am suggesting tends to modify the feelings as well, although indirectly, and not always completely.