Perhaps the writers of the bible were stuck in the concrete operations stage?

[Aegrus]

Perhaps the writers of the bible were stuck in the concrete operations stage of psychological development? (I mean, maybe they were stuck at the end of it, and couldn't move on to the next stage?) It might apply to ordinary fundies, as well. Piaget's stages aren't perfect. They're rough approximations at best, but it kind of makes sense.

Basically, Piaget's stages of childhood development work like this. The stages are a ladder, and at each rung, if certain milestones in learning and life experience are met, you go on to the next stage higher. Lower stages are more concerned with learning basic motor skills. Mid range stages are more about problem solving and logic. Higher stages have less aggression and more capability for seeing multiple points of view/abstract thinking. The stages correspond to ages, but if childhood development is lacking in a significant way, a person can become "stuck" at a low stage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget's_th...onal_stage

The Concrete Operational stage seems very much like the fundies we all know and love. It's characterized by black and white morals, a mastery of basic motor skills, simple (concrete) logic with no capacity for applying logic to abstract concepts such as infinity or omniscience, and a tendency to incorrectly imagine the point of view of other people. (Thus atheists, it seems to them, hate god for somehow betraying them.) This is the stage of children punching each other, acting masochistic, self-important (special) and stealing toys for no reason.

The concrete operations stage is supposed to end at 11, but if a person doesn't learn from adults in their life how to reason correctly and think abstractly, they can get stuck in it.

Edit-- some of this isn't mentioned by Wikipedia but, rather, by my College Psych textbook.

[John V]

Edit-- some of this isn't mentioned by Wikipedia but, rather, by my College Psych textbook.

[Something completely different]

You are messed up!!!

[Annik]

I think that would be reductionism, which as psychologists, we should stray away from.

[Aegrus]

Edit-- some of this isn't mentioned by Wikipedia but, rather, by my College Psych textbook.

I know, very official, right? Wikipedia and a college text book, and suddenly I'm ready to diagnose every fundy in the world.

In case anyone didn't catch this, I wrote it all tongue-in-cheek.

Edit--I think we need an armchair psychologist emoticon. Maybe an old guy with crazy white hair, reclining on a couch, smoking a pipe and peering over some spectacles? Anyone second that notion?

[Rev. Rye]

Yeah, well, at any rate, when I first learned about Piaget's stages, and especially the concrete stage, it sounded almost exactly like religious fundamentalism.

[Minimalist]

I know, very official, right? Wikipedia and a college text book, and suddenly I'm ready to diagnose every fundy in the world.

In case anyone didn't catch this, I wrote it all tongue-in-cheek.

Edit--I think we need an armchair psychologist emoticon. Maybe an old guy with crazy white hair, reclining on a couch, smoking a pipe and peering over some spectacles? Anyone second that notion?

[John V]

In case anyone didn't catch this, I wrote it all tongue-in-cheek.

I thought you were quite serious. I suppose the Poe principal applies to atheists as well as theists.

[Drich]

In case anyone didn't catch this, I wrote it all tongue-in-cheek.

I thought you were quite serious. I suppose the Poe principal applies to atheists as well as theists.

If it did we could call him "The Raven"

[Darth]

Edit--I think we need an armchair psychologist emoticon. Maybe an old guy with crazy white hair, reclining on a couch, smoking a pipe and peering over some spectacles? Anyone second that notion?

Sounds good, but can we place a whopping big cigar in his mouth, rather than a pipe?