Think" vs "Believe": What's the Difference?

[LightbulbSun]

"Think" and "Believe"

I was thinking about these two words today in the context of:

"I think this will happen."
"I believe this is going to happen."

And I'm having a hard time making a distinction between the two. Is the word "think" in this sort of context sometimes misused? Should we only reserve the word "think" when it's based on some form of reasoning/analysis? I'd like to think that could be a distinction, but give me your thoughts on this.

 

[robertm]

Semantics can get confusing. And that's really all this is. Both those phrases are just simple colloquial ways of getting across a point. There is a slight distinction between these to technically, but in normal speech it is not necessary to make that distinction.

 

[JoeDawg]

Well, having a belief is a form of thinking...

 

[Kushal]

in this context, i would say 'think' implies you're not very sure, but 'believe' would mean you are a little more confident. 'believe' would be when you have faith in its happening. whereas 'think' would mostly tend towards logical thinking.