RE: I'm sick of hearing about the "Five Ways"!
January 11, 2017 at 3:27 pm
(This post was last modified: January 11, 2017 at 3:29 pm by JuliaL.)
Regarding the OP:
The relevant error is in thinking that religion has any real interest in Truth.
Persons are not interested in Truth as much as they are interested in advantage. Any consideration of Truth in a religious context is a conscious or unconscious attempt to gain such an edge.
"It helps if you think of it as a game, Bob."
In the study of economics, ecology and games there is a thing known as a Nash equilibrium or an equivalent evolutionarily stable strategy where all players are playing what they believe is their optimal strategy regardless of whether such belief is true (corresponding with reality) or even if it is truly advantageous for them. Believers consistently espouse positions contrary to evidence and reason. Their actions often do advance the interests of their religions and themselves.
Religion has two effective purposes:
1) It keeps a community together and pulling in the same direction.
2) It provides resources and a livelihood for a specialized sub population that would otherwise have to work for a living. We call them clerics.
The relevant error is in thinking that religion has any real interest in Truth.
Persons are not interested in Truth as much as they are interested in advantage. Any consideration of Truth in a religious context is a conscious or unconscious attempt to gain such an edge.
"It helps if you think of it as a game, Bob."
In the study of economics, ecology and games there is a thing known as a Nash equilibrium or an equivalent evolutionarily stable strategy where all players are playing what they believe is their optimal strategy regardless of whether such belief is true (corresponding with reality) or even if it is truly advantageous for them. Believers consistently espouse positions contrary to evidence and reason. Their actions often do advance the interests of their religions and themselves.
Religion has two effective purposes:
1) It keeps a community together and pulling in the same direction.
2) It provides resources and a livelihood for a specialized sub population that would otherwise have to work for a living. We call them clerics.
So how, exactly, does God know that She's NOT a brain in a vat? 
