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The reason humans believe
#1
The reason humans believe
Summed up in this chart.  Every single point applies.  

[Image: c2d04d25123922d04dc72b5406da440d.jpg]
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
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#2
RE: The reason humans believe
Meh, basically with theists it comes down to a fear of thinking.
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#3
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 2:25 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Meh, basically with theists it comes down to a fear of thinking.

True, true . . . I was raised Pentecostal.  A lot of them believe that any doubt will send them to hell.  So when it comes to their religion, they are actually incapable of thinking.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
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#4
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 2:41 pm)drfuzzy Wrote:
(October 8, 2015 at 2:25 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Meh, basically with theists it comes down to a fear of thinking.

True, true . . . I was raised Pentecostal.  A lot of them believe that any doubt will send them to hell.  So when it comes to their religion, they are actually incapable of thinking.

It's why I compare fundamentalism to a memetic virus, a program (another example might be the communications protocol program called English Syntax, Grammar, and Vocabulary version 3.1) input into the brain that "installs" on the brain's operating system and as soon as it unpacks, it immediately destroys the skeptical Immune System antivirus-program that it slipped past (usually because that immune system was weak due to youthfulness or emotional trauma), and switches off the thinking portions that might evict that virus from the system by convincing that person there will be horrible consequences if it does so. It's a highly-efficient virus, which I quite literally equate with the function of HIV, attacking the very immune system that would otherwise fight it off, and taking up permanent residence in the command center as it wears down that immune system to nothingness, while using the command center to activate other systems which will try to propagate the virus to other cells, releasing clouds of viral particles into the area around itself in the hopes that one of them will find and infect another cell.

Also called "proselytizing".
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost

I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.

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#5
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 12:04 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: Summed up in this chart.  Every single point applies.  

[Image: c2d04d25123922d04dc72b5406da440d.jpg]

If you were truly honest with yourself you could apply Each and every one of these thing to why people don't believe as well.
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#6
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 2:58 pm)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote:
(October 8, 2015 at 2:41 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: True, true . . . I was raised Pentecostal.  A lot of them believe that any doubt will send them to hell.  So when it comes to their religion, they are actually incapable of thinking.

It's why I compare fundamentalism to a memetic virus, a program (another example might be the communications protocol program called English Syntax, Grammar, and Vocabulary version 3.1) input into the brain that "installs" on the brain's operating system and as soon as it unpacks, it immediately destroys the skeptical Immune System antivirus-program that it slipped past (usually because that immune system was weak due to youthfulness or emotional trauma), and switches off the thinking portions that might evict that virus from the system by convincing that person there will be horrible consequences if it does so. It's a highly-efficient virus, which I quite literally equate with the function of HIV, attacking the very immune system that would otherwise fight it off, and taking up permanent residence in the command center as it wears down that immune system to nothingness, while using the command center to activate other systems which will try to propagate the virus to other cells, releasing clouds of viral particles into the area around itself in the hopes that one of them will find and infect another cell.

Also called "proselytizing".

Love it, Rocket! That's brilliant.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
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#7
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 3:03 pm)Drich Wrote:
(October 8, 2015 at 12:04 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: Summed up in this chart.  Every single point applies.  
If you were truly honest with yourself you could apply Each and every one of these thing to why people don't believe as well.

An excellent point.

That's almost the perfect definition of Skepticism as a way of thinking. We do apply those to ourselves, as a constant error-checking method. To us, it is a compliment  to point out an error in thinking, or a mistake of fact, to a fellow atheist.

It's a little shocking to us, then, when we do the same as we do for one another to a fundamentalist who comes here, and they react to our information with hostility or silence, pretending we did not demonstrate what we did.

It's the source of the term "intellectual honesty", being willing to recognize when our intellects can fool us, and make the necessary corrections. We are just as capable of those errors as anyone; the difference is in how we prefer to apply the recognition of such errors in revision of our beliefs the moment it becomes clear that we have swallowed something based upon fallacious reasoning or bias.

Dogma is the precise opposite of that.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost

I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.

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#8
RE: The reason humans believe
Very nice!

It's a really important skill to examine your own thinking. Sadly, there's a kind of circular problem with people who never think there can be a problem with their thinking...
Feel free to send me a private message.
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#9
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 8, 2015 at 3:03 pm)Drich Wrote:
(October 8, 2015 at 12:04 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: Summed up in this chart.  Every single point applies.  

If you were truly honest with yourself you could apply Each and every one of these thing to why people don't believe as well.

Conservatism and placebo effect.
*claps hands* Go.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die." 
- Abdul Alhazred.
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#10
RE: The reason humans believe
(October 9, 2015 at 12:51 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote:
(October 8, 2015 at 3:03 pm)Drich Wrote: If you were truly honest with yourself you could apply Each and every one of these thing to why people don't believe as well.

Conservatism and placebo effect.
*claps hands* Go.

Blind spot Bias, and over confidence
Clap Your turn
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