Can you "choose" to "believe" something?

I've been trying really hard to believe 2+2=3 but damn it I just haven't been able to convince myself.

It is really hard but can be done. I used to read this books about how to manifest what you want & you have to believe if you are to get it. I wanted a raise of $500 a month but I wasn't really working or making any money for the company I worked for. I read this book called "Creating True Prosperity" by Shakti Gawain. I did what it said to do & I called my boss & I didn't even have to ask. I was telling his what was going on & why I couldn't work & that are bills were so high because we were spending alot of Doctors at the time. By boss said "why don't I bump you up $500 a month, would that help?" Of course, I accepted & I knew it was because I forced myself to believe something. I had actually done this many times & had alot of success with it...Actors sometimes believe something so much it really messes up their minds. I think Heath Ledger was playing a part that was getting to him before he passed away.

I don't think so, not right off the bat at least.

But if you immerse yourself in something long enough, it becomes second nature and ingrained. You may not have chosen to believe at first, but after a while it happens.

I know what you are saying -- people ask all the time "Why did you chose to be atheist?" I didn't choose it -- it was more like I eliminated all other possibilities because they made no sense. But I didn't choose to be a Christian as a child either -- I was raised in it, indoctrinated in it, and after several years of growing up like that, I believed. Or at least, I believed that I believed.

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You can choose to give someone the benefit of the doubt. You don't exactly believe them, but you'll give them some leeway until they prove you wrong. That's not necessarily belief, though.

As for what makes sense to you in your own heart and mind, that's obviously not a choice.

I choose to believe that I'll get better, if I dwell on matters that weaken me I'll most certainly not be able to get out of bed in the morning.

It's like choosing to be happy against all odds

You choose what belief you follow, and with how much integrity you commit to it. You cannot choose, however, how much self-doubt you feel in doing so.

Similar concept I just thought of: a soldier can't choose how much fear he feels when going into battle, but he still has the choice of swallowing his fear and fighting or running away.

I used to say the exact same thing. I was surrounded by Christians and I, myself, was not one. I would always tell them that I couldn't just "choose" to believe what they believed - and I was right. But what I did do was start to read and study the Bible and start to join study groups, etc., and eventually, from out of nowhere it seemed, the spirit finally settled in me and I became a believer. It's somthing that just hits you, I think, and you can't make yourself feel it. You can just open yourself to the suggestion and not be closeminded.

Sure you have a choice. It's called free will. If God didn't give us a choice to serve Him, we couldn't know TRUE love, for the relationship with Him would be forced and coerced, not freely given.....

Yes, I can choose to believe until a wrong have been prevailed.

I call it being open- minded. A closed mind never gain any new ideas or thoughts.

i think the choice is really about choosing to ignore or accept evidence.

there is definitely a choice involved in continuing to believe in something that is quite obviously imaginary and to deny any evidence that comes along and doesn't fit.

Hmm.

Well,that is just like someone being raised as a Christian,or a Muslim..or just whatever. They have been around it their whole life,and had someone telling them that it was the right way.

When you get older you have the choice to believe as you want,even though it may not be easy..because someone was telling you all along that it was right,but it is not impossible to change your beliefs,its just not that easy.