It's perfectly possible to will oneself to believe, or not to believe, something.
I'm confused--by "will oneself to believe" do you mean "try to believe, by an act of will" or do you mean "succeed at believing, by an act of will"?
If the former, I agree- I could try to believe, and so could anyone; I don't think it would make any more difference than trying to flap my arms and fly to the moon, but I could certainly *try*. If the latter, I don't agree. By an act of will I could lie and claim to believe, or by an act of will I could pretend to believe and imagine what it would be like if I did and then try to pretend I perceive things that way, but I don't see that as being the same as actually succeeding at believing.
Of course, I am interpreting "belief" as "being fairly certain" rather than "tentatively accepting for now." Which may be making a difference--I am pretty sure I could tentatively accept something for now as an act of will, that being very much like suspending disbelief when partaking of a work of fiction.
And, somewhat off the subject, actually I think I do have the "goddess-sense" you described, having vaguely perceived something like that once or twice. But I've vaguely perceived lots of things once or twice and I suspect most of them were illusions. And even if what I perceived in that case was correct (unlike the water I see on the highway on hot days, or the walls melting or the bed rocking when I'm sick, to pick a couple of examples)--it was absolutely nothing like what most people who make claims about God claim that God is like, which kind of suggests we can't be talking about the same thing.
I didn't "will myself to disbelieve" the experience--I just suspect it's not real, the way I suspect the water isn't real when I get there and the road is dry or the bed isn't rocking when nobody else mentions the earthquake.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-11-19 01:38 am (UTC)I'm confused--by "will oneself to believe" do you mean "try to believe, by an act of will" or do you mean "succeed at believing, by an act of will"?
If the former, I agree- I could try to believe, and so could anyone; I don't think it would make any more difference than trying to flap my arms and fly to the moon, but I could certainly *try*. If the latter, I don't agree. By an act of will I could lie and claim to believe, or by an act of will I could pretend to believe and imagine what it would be like if I did and then try to pretend I perceive things that way, but I don't see that as being the same as actually succeeding at believing.
Of course, I am interpreting "belief" as "being fairly certain" rather than "tentatively accepting for now." Which may be making a difference--I am pretty sure I could tentatively accept something for now as an act of will, that being very much like suspending disbelief when partaking of a work of fiction.
And, somewhat off the subject, actually I think I do have the "goddess-sense" you described, having vaguely perceived something like that once or twice. But I've vaguely perceived lots of things once or twice and I suspect most of them were illusions. And even if what I perceived in that case was correct (unlike the water I see on the highway on hot days, or the walls melting or the bed rocking when I'm sick, to pick a couple of examples)--it was absolutely nothing like what most people who make claims about God claim that God is like, which kind of suggests we can't be talking about the same thing.
I didn't "will myself to disbelieve" the experience--I just suspect it's not real, the way I suspect the water isn't real when I get there and the road is dry or the bed isn't rocking when nobody else mentions the earthquake.