I like to treat religious people nice.

[shadow]

We favor the scientific method but that is in itself an emotional bias. We don't embrace it because we are smart but because it appeals to us emotionally.

I disagree. It's not that I 'emotionally' like the truth... I don't emotionally like the idea, for example, that my dead loved ones are just plain dead, and not in some afterlife. I simply embrace science because it is true, whether I emotionally like it or not.

Sure, we may not be totally objective, but that doesn't mean there isn't a spectrum of how objectively correct people's beliefs can be. It's not an emotional bias to favor the scientific method at all: it's a detachment from emotional decision making.

I agree that we shouldn't be mean to religious people: there's no point. But that doesn't make them somehow right, or their views worth respecting. I'll tolerate religious views, but respect of an belief doesn't come that cheap.

[AFTT47]

Brain researchers have found that we process everything emotionally. You may not always like what the scientific method tells you but you favor the methodology itself. At least, that's what the brain researchers say. In fact, they say it is physiologically impossible for us to process anything purely by logic. Our brains are not wired to do that.

[GrandizerII]

Brain researchers have found that we process everything emotionally. You may not always like what the scientific method tells you but you favor the methodology itself. At least, that's what the brain researchers say. In fact, they say it is physiologically impossible for us to process anything purely by logic. Our brains are not wired to do that.

Logic, I think, isn't the opposite of emotional. It refers to a tool that is used by human beings to make sense of the world around us or to make decisions and choices and so on.

And not all favor logic when it comes to matters of metaphysics and such, as they are also driven by the need for spiritual comfort in the form of religion and/or faith. And therein lies one of the distinctions, in general, between the atheist/irreligious and the theist/religious. The apologist may, and do, employ proper logic and science when it does not contradict their theology, but it doesn't seem like they have an unconditional fondness for properly employed logic or science. For them, God and comfort comes first, and then logic and science.

But of course, this is in general. A lot of atheists out there don't favor a proper use of logic, and are driven instead by a passionate desire to attack faith and religion at all costs.

[iameatingjam]

I tend to not talk religion to religious people. I did that for years and it never got me anywhere, and I made some enemies along the way. Not to mention it is very frustrating.

Now I will only talk religion to people who 1) Are also atheist 2) people who are on the fence.

[Minimalist]

Whenever a religious debate begins to happen (something I fervently try to avoid) I tend to act with empathy and compassion.

Good luck with that when you run across MK or some of the more obnoxious xhristards we have here.

[Jeezypete]

Well talking online i is way different then person to person. Honestly fervent trolls can excaserbate any situation for there own amusement. People who live with pain often seek ways to dump it on people. Don’t feed trolls, it robs them of there hard work and let’s then wallow in there empty lives. If someone doesn’t agree with being kind and using emotional logic then they probably will have no regard for your emotional wellbeing, and don’t warrant acknowlegemt.

[shadow]

Brain researchers have found that we process everything emotionally. You may not always like what the scientific method tells you but you favor the methodology itself. At least, that's what the brain researchers say. In fact, they say it is physiologically impossible for us to process anything purely by logic. Our brains are not wired to do that.

What does that word mean, then? You're playing a definitions game here - saying that because you think no one can be completely rational, all decisions are therefore equally irrational. That is not the case: some views are more correct and therefore lead to better outcomes than incorrect ones. Dragging one's interactions with the world into total abstraction does nothing to speak to whether a belief practically makes sense and leads to good and rational decisions. That's what's fundamentally important with why delusion is so harmful.

[emjay]

We favor the scientific method but that is in itself an emotional bias. We don't embrace it because we are smart but because it appeals to us emotionally.

I disagree. It's not that I 'emotionally' like the truth... I don't emotionally like the idea, for example, that my dead loved ones are just plain dead, and not in some afterlife. I simply embrace science because it is true, whether I emotionally like it or not.

Sure, we may not be totally objective, but that doesn't mean there isn't a spectrum of how objectively correct people's beliefs can be. It's not an emotional bias to favor the scientific method at all: it's a detachment from emotional decision making.

I agree that we shouldn't be mean to religious people: there's no point. But that doesn't make them somehow right, or their views worth respecting. I'll tolerate religious views, but respect of an belief doesn't come that cheap.

The way I look at this is that science progresses in spite of human bias rather than in the absence of it. For instance any major paradigm shift in scientific thinking often takes a while for everyone to get on board... some people more than others cling more strongly to the old ideas... for instance with quantum physics. But the transparency of the scientific process to criticism from outside parties, some of which with different biases... means that it is self-correcting in the long run; eventually the weight of evidence is overwhelming enough to overcome all bias against it and thus the paradigm shift is complete.

I don't think any self-respecting scientist, who values objectivity, would willfully introduce bias into their experiments... and would do as much as they could to eliminate it... and likewise be open to outside criticism with the same aim... but nonetheless, where emotion goes, bias often follows, so wherever there is emotional investment in something... in this case with scientists in their theories... bias can seep in. Not necessarily into the experiments themselves, but into the directions research follows... which can be a good or bad thing... and in how readily, or not, alternative ideas are accepted.

So at the end of the day, my view is that bias is not something to ignore as irrelevant to science... because it is relevant; science is conducted by individual humans, and humans are inherently emotional as well as logical... but rather just something to aim to be aware of and constantly vigilant against.

[Minimalist]

The way I look at this is that science progresses in spite of human bias rather than in the absence of it.

Someone once made the observation that "Science advances one funeral at a time."

[Abaddon_ire]

Whenever a religious debate begins to happen (something I fervently try to avoid) I tend to act with empathy and compassion. I ask them to explain how god (or gods) have helped them. What void they fill or what obstacle they help them overcome. I never ask for them to defend themselves or debate logic. It’s always been my view that religion has never been about a debate of logic, but a debate of survival. People have religion often because it helps them get by either it be work or relationships. Using logic to debate with a religious person often doesn’t work because their arguments are not based on it, but rather a primal need to get by. When cornered about why I generally don’t subcribe to a religion (it happens from time to time) I simply say that “it’s ok to not know, and it’s ok to be afraid.” I then proceed to tell them this is what I tell myself when faced with the infinite black that stares back at all of us from time to time and it helps me get by. I try to be honest, friendly, and forgiving. I don’t succeed all time but it’s made my voyage through life a whole lot better.

That might work, except that the religious will not extend that very courtesy to you or anyone else. My god is a god of unconditional lurve, they say. But they also want you dead.