Human Brain Evolved to Believe in Gods

[Syne]

No, there's a big difference between a false belief that helps us survive (your claim) and a false belief that just doesn't have a counter-survival cost (this article's claim).

Wrong. The example was given:

"In general, an animal must balance the cost of being right with the cost of being wrong, Foster says. Throw in the chances that a real lion, and not wind, makes the rustling sound, and you can predict superstitious beliefs, he says.

Real and false associations become even cloudier when multiple potential “causes” portend an event. Rustling leaves and say, a full moon, might precede a lion’s arrival, tilting the balance toward superstition more than a single “cause” would, Foster explains."

IOW, a superstition can result in survival favoring behavior and still be just a stupid superstition.

And? Your claims were about human beliefs, and their little analogy is not something they can demonstrate (but we all know the huge problem you have understanding evidence).

Again, none of this validates your idiotic claims.

[Magical Realist]

No, there's a big difference between a false belief that helps us survive (your claim) and a false belief that just doesn't have a counter-survival cost (this article's claim).

Wrong. The example was given:

"In general, an animal must balance the cost of being right with the cost of being wrong, Foster says. Throw in the chances that a real lion, and not wind, makes the rustling sound, and you can predict superstitious beliefs, he says.

Real and false associations become even cloudier when multiple potential “causes” portend an event. Rustling leaves and say, a full moon, might precede a lion’s arrival, tilting the balance toward superstition more than a single “cause” would, Foster explains."

IOW, a superstition can result in survival favoring behavior and still be just a stupid superstition.

And? Your claims were about human beliefs, and their little analogy is not something they can demonstrate (but we all know the huge problem you have understanding evidence).

Again, none of this validates your idiotic claims.  

The examples given confirm that. A parent's estimate of the absolute value of their child's life is a false belief, yet it works in favor of the survival of the child. A belief that events happen for your own sake is a false belief, yet it works in favor in your own survival. Delusions can often contribute to one's own survival. Just like the belief in a benevolent magical Skydaddy. It gives you a sense of protection in battle.

[Syne]

And? Your claims were about human beliefs, and their little analogy is not something they can demonstrate (but we all know the huge problem you have understanding evidence).

Again, none of this validates your idiotic claims.  

The examples given confirm that. A parent's estimate of the absolute value of their child's life is a false belief, yet it works in favor of the survival of the child. A belief that events happen for your own sake is a false belief, yet it works in favor in your own survival. Delusions can often contribute to one's own survival. Just like the belief in a benevolent magical Skydaddy. It gives you a sense of protection in battle.

Damn, you've already forgotten what your own cited article said.
It said nothing about parents and children...or any of your other idiotic claims. And you've given absolutely no reason why a parent's value of their child is demonstrably false instead of just subjective...like any emotional bond. You do know how emotional bonds work, don't you? A child's life is only a potential until they are grown, and potentials are not true or false; they are either realized or not.

You're just repeating your previous claims without any further justification. So again:

The brain also evolved to view the earth as flat. To see one's child as the most beautiful. To assume one's life is the center of all that happens. We harbor many cognitive illusions that resulted from our evolution. This hardly means those illusions are facts. Beliefs that help us and our loved ones to survive are not necessarily true.

Believing the earth is flat aids survival? O_o
The wholly subjective view of beauty can be demonstrably false? O_o
The subjective view that your life is central to your own experience is demonstrable false? O_o

None of those are good examples. Either they are subjective and can't be proven false or they can be proven false and have no survival value whatsoever.

I see you are trying to backpedal, by dropping flat-earth, changing beauty of a child to their potential, and changing subjective self-centeredness to, what, luck. None of those help your claims.


As usual, since you can't come up with any specific examples, you just keep repeating nonsense ad infinitum. Keep it up, you're doing your usual bang-up job.

[Magical Realist]

And? Your claims were about human beliefs, and their little analogy is not something they can demonstrate (but we all know the huge problem you have understanding evidence).

Again, none of this validates your idiotic claims.  

The examples given confirm that. A parent's estimate of the absolute value of their child's life is a false belief, yet it works in favor of the survival of the child. A belief that events happen for your own sake is a false belief, yet it works in favor in your own survival. Delusions can often contribute to one's own survival. Just like the belief in a benevolent magical Skydaddy. It gives you a sense of protection in battle.

Damn, you've already forgotten what your own cited article said.  
It said nothing about parents and children...or any of your other idiotic claims. And you've given absolutely no reason why a parent's value of their child is demonstrably false instead of just subjective...like any emotional bond. You do know how emotional bonds work, don't you? A child's life is only a potential until they are grown, and potentials are not true or false; they are either realized or not.

You're just repeating your previous claims without any further justification. So again:

The brain also evolved to view the earth as flat. To see one's child as the most beautiful. To assume one's life is the center of all that happens. We harbor many cognitive illusions that resulted from our evolution. This hardly means those illusions are facts. Beliefs that help us and our loved ones to survive are not necessarily true.

Believing the earth is flat aids survival? O_o
The wholly subjective view of beauty can be demonstrably false? O_o
The subjective view that your life is central to your own experience is demonstrable false? O_o

None of those are good examples. Either they are subjective and can't be proven false or they can be proven false and have no survival value whatsoever.  

I see you are trying to backpedal, by dropping flat-earth, changing beauty of a child to their potential, and changing subjective self-centeredness to, what, luck. None of those help your claims.


As usual, since you can't come up with any specific examples, you just keep repeating nonsense ad infinitum. Keep it up, you're doing your usual bang-up job.

Wrong. All those values for one's child and for one's own life are delusions. They are entirely subjective. There is no objective fact of one's child being the most important or most beautiful person on earth. There is no objective fact of your life being the center of all happening. These are delusions that help us to survive. Just as superstitions help us to survive. Just as belief in Skydaddy helped primitive peoples to survive. Beliefs that help us to survive are not necessarily true. This is just common sense.

[Syne]

Wrong. All those values for one's child and for one's own life are delusions. They are entirely subjective. There is no objective fact of one's child being the most important or most beautiful person on earth. There is no objective fact of your life being the center of all happening. These are delusions that help us to survive. Just as superstitions help us to survive. Just as belief in Skydaddy helped primitive peoples to survive. Beliefs that help us to survive are not necessarily true. This is just common sense.

I'm glad to see you agree that they are subjective...which completely destroys your own ignorant claims. Too bad you're such a moron that you conflate subjective with delusional. They are not synonymous.


sub·jec·tive
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

de·lu·sion
an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.


There is nothing necessarily idiosyncratic nor contradicted by accepted reality or rational argument about one's feelings or opinions. Those are not subject to such determinations because they do not make objective truth claims. Otherwise, that would make your subjective opinions, about UFOs, ghosts, and even your feelings about me, delusional. Now if you really want to admit to that, you go right ahead. But that doesn't change your woefully tenuous grasp on simple language.

Again, for the umpteenth time, you have not shown a single objectively false belief that aids survival. You've just soiled your drawers for all to see.

[Magical Realist]

Wrong. All those values for one's child and for one's own life are delusions. They are entirely subjective. There is no objective fact of one's child being the most important or most beautiful person on earth. There is no objective fact of your life being the center of all happening. These are delusions that help us to survive. Just as superstitions help us to survive. Just as belief in Skydaddy helped primitive peoples to survive. Beliefs that help us to survive are not necessarily true. This is just common sense.

I'm glad to see you agree that they are subjective...which completely destroys your own ignorant claims. Too bad you're such a moron that you conflate subjective with delusional. They are not synonymous.


sub·jec·tive
   based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

de·lu·sion
   an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.


There is nothing necessarily idiosyncratic nor contradicted by accepted reality or rational argument about one's feelings or opinions. Those are not subject to such determinations because they do not make objective truth claims. Otherwise, that would make your subjective opinions, about UFOs, ghosts, and even your feelings about me, delusional. Now if you really want to admit to that, you go right ahead. But that doesn't change your woefully tenuous grasp on simple language.

Again, for the umpteenth time, you have not shown a single objectively false belief that aids survival. You've just soiled your drawers for all to see.    

Subjective beliefs are not objective and are based on feelings instead of facts. That is how they differ from the truth. All these subjective delusions have no basis in objective reality. They contribute to our and our loved ones' survival, but are not necessarily true. I rest my case.

[Syne]

I'm glad to see you agree that they are subjective...which completely destroys your own ignorant claims. Too bad you're such a moron that you conflate subjective with delusional. They are not synonymous.


sub·jec·tive
   based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

de·lu·sion
   an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.


There is nothing necessarily idiosyncratic nor contradicted by accepted reality or rational argument about one's feelings or opinions. Those are not subject to such determinations because they do not make objective truth claims. Otherwise, that would make your subjective opinions, about UFOs, ghosts, and even your feelings about me, delusional. Now if you really want to admit to that, you go right ahead. But that doesn't change your woefully tenuous grasp on simple language.

Again, for the umpteenth time, you have not shown a single objectively false belief that aids survival. You've just soiled your drawers for all to see.    

Subjective beliefs are not objective and are based on feelings instead of facts. That is how they differ from the truth. All these subjective delusions have no basis in objective reality. They contribute to our and our loved ones' survival, but are not necessarily true. I rest my case.

Wow, it's like you read none of my post and just repeated the same clueless shit.
So you really think all feelings are delusional? O_o
You're admitting to either having no feelings or being delusional? O_o
You're on a roll, man! Good to hear you making such great progress coming to terms with your problems.

[Magical Realist]

So you really think all feelings are delusional?

Where did I say that? I said beliefs based on subjective feelings aren't necessarily true just because they help us to survive. Do I need to repeat all this again?

[Syne]

So you really think all feelings are delusional?

Where did I say that? I said beliefs based on subjective feelings aren't necessarily true just because they help us to survive. Do I need to repeat all this again?

Ahem.

All those values for one's child and for one's own life are delusions. They are entirely subjective. There is no objective fact of one's child being the most important or most beautiful person on earth. There is no objective fact of your life being the center of all happening. These are delusions that help us to survive. Just as superstitions help us to survive. Just as belief in Skydaddy helped primitive peoples to survive. Beliefs that help us to survive are not necessarily true. This is just common sense.

So which feelings do you think aren't delusional? O_o
Or are you just backpedaling away from your claims about delusion now? O_o

I've already told you that subjective feelings have no objective truth value; they just are. That doesn't make them delusions. Delusions are beliefs that contradict reality. Nothing in reality contradicts the love parents have for their children or an individual's necessarily self-centered experience (the definition of subjective, which if contradicted would mean you have no feelings).

If you stubbornly refuse to comprehend basic definitions, I can only assume you are delusion...since you are contradicting the reality of what words mean. Your kettle-logic seems to be objective = true, subjective ≠ objective, hence subjective ≠ true. When the reality is that the subjective has no factual truth value, while the objective is either true or false.

An objective claim is a statement about a factual matter-one that can be proved true or false. For factual matters there exist widely recognized criteria and methods to determine whether a claim is true or false. A subjective claim, on the other hand, is not a factual matter; it is an expression of belief, opinion, or personal preference. A subjective claim cannot be proved right or wrong by any generally accepted criteria.
- http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tip...laims.html

[Magical Realist]

These are delusions

Right..those beliefs are delusions. I never said feelings are delusions. A feeling can't be a delusion. Only a belief can. Read a book on psychology some time.

I'm done wasting my time with you. The more I explain what I say to you, the more you pretend to not understand it just so you can argue some more. It's your petty little gotcha game again. Grow up and get a life bitch.