This distinction doesn't seem to track common usage: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=I+think+they+will+win%2CI+believe+they+will+win&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CI%20think%20they%20will%20win%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CI%20believe%20they%20will%20win%3B%2Cc0 …
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Replying to @thedrakesays
That’s interesting… those data are really odd, though. I agree it’s an empirical question that needs better support than “seems to me”, which is all I’ve got atm
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Replying to @Meaningness
I guess I don’t understand why you find them odd. My intuition is that the terms are roughly coextensive, with “believe“ possibly connoting a higher degree of confidence. (FWIW.)
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Replying to @thedrakesays
I need to do some empirical work on this; my anecdotal understanding may be mistaken.
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Replying to @Meaningness
"believe"' implies greater emotional investment, such as ideological commitment (seems heavily influenced by the Christian tradition). It suggests "ought" more than "is". But you can cue this much more strongly by other word choices like "will" vs "should".
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Replying to @robamacl @Meaningness
I would not say "believe" implies greater certainty, if anything the anxiety in it suggests the plausibility of doubt. Perhaps my atheism is showing.
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Replying to @robamacl @Meaningness
I think something like philosophical belief is an important thing, but is largely unconscious. V.S. Ramachandan on paralysis with neglect was thought provoking. http://humancond.org/books/phantoms_in_brain …
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Replying to @robamacl @Meaningness
After a stroke caused paralysis, patient sometimes denies they are paralyzed, and confabulates. "I just don't feel like moving", etc. But if you squirt ice water in their ear, they admit paralysis, and deny that they had ever denied. Then, after a while the ice effect is gone.
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Replying to @robamacl
That’s… really odd! Is there some sort of explanation for it?
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Replying to @Meaningness @robamacl
Confabulation is a major thing. As my mother’s dementia progresses, she fills in more and more cognitive gaps with plausible-sounding but completely false stories. Once I observed this, I started to worry, and observe… and caught myself doing the same thing. Like, *often*.
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I gave my wife a lengthy explanation of why I had bought a particular bottle of wine that was atypical for me. And realized only later that, in fact, she had bought it, not me. I completely believed what I was saying.
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Replying to @Meaningness
It's very cool when you catch your own brain doing not-entirely-rational brain tricks. I've been especially noticing how motor planning is something that you are just watching and may struggle to explain. Like, I noticed I was picking up my glasses like this:pic.twitter.com/UzoTVp07L8
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Replying to @robamacl @Meaningness
This is not anything I ever consciously decided to do, and I don't think I use this odd between-two-fingers pincer grip for anything else. Since doing Tai chi I've become less motor inhibited, or increased my motor vocab. Like while going though a heavy pull door
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