froggo wrote:Why do people share beliefs?
When I read the title, I thought the thread would be about why different people appear to share the same (or very similar) beliefs. That's a different thread entirely!
In this case I'd say it's partly about validation - 'testing' your viewpoint - partly about trying to convince others of the veracity of your viewpoint and partly about our subconscious desire for 'confirmation bias', seeing how many people will agree with you and seeing who disagrees with you. In particular reference to the latter, locking horns with someone whose viewpoint is the polar opposite of yours will not shake your conviction or theirs, but will rather reinforce it for both.
All of this is inescapably fraught with opportunities for misunderstanding, because generally people will read or listen to your viewpoint
through the filter of their own. As a result, what you write or say will not be what the other person reads or hears.
Over at PoFoUK, where I'm the most active moderator, my card is marked as some kind of out-and-out Leftie/Marxist/Commie and even though I'm none of those things, what I write is routinely misunderstood and subsequently misrepresented by our mostly right-leaning members.
I rarely share my beliefs there because it serves little purpose.