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RE: The Ethics of Belief
July 24, 2015 at 12:06 pm
Not sure how relevant this is, but it's been my experience that "leading by example" works. If you behave well, it encourages others around you to behave well too, generally speaking. The same can be true of bad behaviour.
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RE: The Ethics of Belief
July 25, 2015 at 10:08 am
I believe that psychologists have studied that and have observed that with many things it often works to lead by example. However, I do not see any particular connection with this thread.
It does remind me of something else, that people often rise to one's expectations. Which is to say, that if you treat someone like they are a good person, they are more likely to behave well than if you treat them indifferently. This, too, does not seem particularly connected with this thread.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: The Ethics of Belief
July 25, 2015 at 2:27 pm
(This post was last modified: July 25, 2015 at 2:32 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(July 23, 2015 at 9:45 pm)bennyboy Wrote: (July 23, 2015 at 9:26 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Fairly certain that I could use the same thought process behind the brown dog belief, even the brown dog belief -itself- to condition you into complete and utter evil. The road to hell, paved with good intentions, and all that jazz.
(Or, if you prefer, "those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.")
-sure, it might seem benign at first, but so do tumors. 
You could use almost any idea or process to turn someone to immoral behavior. Love of family isn't immoral (I think at least), but certainly when it's corrupted by misfortune it leads to some of the greatest horrors the world will ever see.
But let me ask you the same thing I asked the OP-- do you think that ideas based on "sufficient evidence" are any more sure to lead to good behavior? And with regards to moral ideas, what constitutes a testable more anyway?
No, I don't think that ideas based on good evidence are any more likely to lead to good behavior. It's just more difficult to gaslight someone who depends upon good evidence. -Anything- can be a testable more, but here again it requires a clear thinking person to test their own mores or realize when their mores have been tested and found wanting. The believer in the brown dog theory of niceness is no such person. He's cracked, and you can't take anything for granted with that guy. All of our expectations are unjustified, in principle, dealing with such a person.
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