this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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Unpopular Opinion
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lol wut
..and environment.
I guess in a sense those two things could be said to encompass everything that could possibly define a person (discounting fetal development etc), but racism is at least as much of a belief system as it is a conditioned response, and the belief is about genetic determinism, so it still seems like a little bit of an ironic statement.
Even if choices all unavoidably trace back to nature+nurture, I would say there is still a distinction in how much of a 'choice' has been made between say someone who has an emotional response due to trauma associated with a certain ethnicity, and someone with beliefs that an ethnicity is genetically unfit to coexist in society with others, because the latter is conscious and considered, and you can say that such a person has a responsibility to consider more thoroughly whether it really makes sense.
Can you choose to have beliefs?
I cannot. If you were to hold me at gunpoint and forced me to genuinely believe, say, in the Flying Spaghetti Monster you would have to shoot me.
It's almost certain that I have beliefs that are wrong and I'm they are wrong. Doesn't mean I can just stop believing in them.
Ordering someone to change their beliefs at gunpoint is kind of the opposite of asking them to think. You can't reasonably ask someone to not have been born to minority parents, because it's impossible, but you can ask someone to think about why that might not be reasonable, or improve the quality of information that is the basis for their considerations, which are possible.
As for FSM, make pilgrimage to the pasta plains to witness the world's spaghetti supply descending from the sky, and cast a critical eye on media peddling conspiracy theories like "wheat" and "rolling machines".
Uh... Yeah. All beliefs are chosen. Just because you wouldn't find a gun a convincing argument doesn't mean you can't choose to believe in the FSM (may you be blessed by his noodley appendages). You'd just have to work at it a bit, find evidence to support your views, and ignore any and all evidence counter to your views.
People raised in a cult can have beliefs they did not choose, but were forced upon them.