&gt; Confidence can be based on many things (evidence, social pressure, etc) and can change over time. So you are absolutely free to choose what you believe is true or false.<p>No, The second doesn&#x27;t follow from the first. Sure, confidence can change over time. That doesn&#x27;t mean that you can make a conscious choice to believe something. (With <i>skill</i>, you may be able to identify the factors that influence your belief and then chose behaviors which will lead to experiencing the factors that will influence your belief in the direction you wish, but its absolutely not directly and simply within your control, even before considering that a belief that something is true itself generally precludes the belief that you should believe that it is not true in the first place.)