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And, isn't that the point? To change beliefs, one would have to have a serious change of heart which doesn't come from nowhere. That doesn't mean that you don't have a choice whether to change or not, it means that you felt that you had a good reason to. Many people struggle with their beliefs, see contradictions, and continue to hold on tightly to those beliefs anyway because they choose to hold on to those old beliefs that has become strongly meshed with their identity. I have worked hard to avoid getting into such identity crises by avoiding putting myself in situations where I have beliefs that can put me into existential dilemmas about my identity.
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This is a good point - We know how some people as you say have their beliefs (or non-beliefs) strongly meshed with their identity. In fact, it might be difficult to define the point where ones identity begins and the way one approaches life (based on certain ideas which are held to be true or untrue) ends. We interpret ourselves and our experiences within the bounds of some set of tenets or (a priori assumptions) that we believe have some (if only working) value.
Some people are unlucky enough to have belief systems that are either self-contradicting, or at least fail to stand up to the evidence their experience provides. Hanging on to a belief system such as this because it defines what that person feels themselves to be - despite the evidence, can cause them to develop elaborate explanations, and in advanced cases, paranoia, split-personalities or delusions of persecution.
The archetypal Psycho who failed to accept the death of his mother (on whom perhaps he built-up a highly parochial world-view on which was based the sense of his own identity) is a good example instance.
A worldview is built, life events are sorted, measured and placed into the scaffolding that worldview provides, building it and developing it further. Then suddenly something on which the worldview is based on is kicked away, bringing everything else with it.
In the case of Norman Bates, he's unable to deal with this inconsistancy, and in times of stress, he takes on the role of his mother, required by his worlview to keep up the scaffold of his life.
Has Norman Bates chosen to believe his mother is still alive despite all the evidence to the contrary? Has Norman chosen to be a psycho?
On less extreme ground, this is often seen to be the reason for a personal or mental breakdown. The basis on which someone has built their life is etched away by experience until it no-longer is able to support someone's operation. During this period the person is trying to reconcile their beliefs with experience.
At this point, the option is to continue to hold the belief, or to allow it to slide.
- and then, like a house of cards, the system breaks down. The person has to somehow re-interpret their life-history and daily experience without anything solid as a foundation. Without doing so makes it difficult to assign any meaning or value to new experience.
I agree the process of forming, holding and then rejecting beliefs is one that we are conciously aware of. Maybe some of us can choose what to believe, but there are certainly others who would appear to have no choice at all.