Let me know if this is too meta, but it so happens: I changed my mind about questions on beliefs--like what do you believe, do you believe in X, what are your b

Let me know if this is too meta, but it so happens: I changed my mind about questions on beliefs--like what do you believe, do you believe in X, what are your beliefs about Y, etc. I find these questions very questionable now, but I didn't before. This is probably related to the fact that I finally stopped practicing the high-demand religion into which I was born, after preaching it from pulpits for decades. So I dropped a LOT of strongly-held beliefs, including some pretty wild stuff TBH, and this led me to question this idea of belief. Other reasons: Questions mentioning belief are often criticism couched in curiosity. Sometimes the questioner doesn't even realize it! And IMO, a lot of people will ask "why do you...believe...whatever" when they are not in a mindset to be swayed; the verb itself may even be a form of unintentional ridicule, depending. Yet the believer is ready to take some imaginary podium and defend their position. lol. The conversation sets itself up, and everybody picks up their scripts and takes their places on the stage. Yeah no thanks. Other questions mentioning belief are often a kind of a perspective-check by the questioner--what is your perspective on X or Y, what perspectives are you taking. This then suggests to them a form of derivative-outcome in their mind: OK if that's what you believe, then you'll probably invest in Z, you'll probably vote for candidate A and not B, etc. In fact it's a form of gestalt speculation and even feeds an emotional like/dislike process in the end. I studied this particular mindset really heavily for the last ~10 years and couldn't be more disappointed that people don't really understand more about it. :D Those who practice it tend to overrate its applicability. Those who don't practice it tend to vastly underrate it. And in general, questions about belief become a point of no return for a lot of conversations that could have been great. Better questions IMO: - What do you find useful these days that you didn't make much use of before? (Perspectives, tools, whatver) - Help me understand how X works for you, like what does that look like in your schedule? - What are some things that have affected your opinion on X? Opinions, uses, perspectives, practices: I find all of these way better to talk about than belief. I really don't see that the word is necessary...but I'm open to changing my mind!