Preposterous question since a belief by definition is subjective. 250 million is low, but is a "valid" observation. Now, who gets to decide which ones (if any) are correct?
That's not the relevant question. Obviously each one of us ultimately must decide for ourselves. The relevant question is, "how do we decide which ones (if any) are correct?"Surely you don't deny that everyone has subjective beliefs, and that many people are certain that other people are telepathically communicating to them by way of voices in their head? My point is we have 250 million conflicting "datasets" in America alone.
Preposterous question since a belief by definition is subjective. 250 million is low, but is a "valid" observation. Now, who gets to decide which ones (if any) are correct?
Well, how do you decide which subjective belief is objectively true? Obviously it's the belief that turns out to correspond to reality in the real world. And how do you determine which ones correspond to the real world? By seeing which subjective belief can be verified by many separate observers. Strictly speaking, each of those observers' beliefs that they saw the verification of the belief in question are themselves subjective beliefs, but since they're different people the inherently private nature of a purely subjective belief is filtered out, and the objective truth component remains.
Intersubjectivity. You can't build a technological civilization without it. (I believe you knew that!)