tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22093933.post2977763564466986431..comments2024-03-28T09:41:15.454-05:00Comments on Deric's MindBlog: God's beliefs as what we want them to be.Deric Bowndshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16617204535017208765noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22093933.post-7049327907198014542010-01-05T15:38:08.648-06:002010-01-05T15:38:08.648-06:00This certainly puts a twist in the sympathetic app...This certainly puts a twist in the sympathetic approach to religion. It appears that it is a switch, or catalyst for a narrower understanding of life. It takes away the argument that religion is an adaptation for a greater good.<br /><br />I think that this study makes it very hard to defend the religious problems we have in this world and our country.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465888150529054840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22093933.post-2729447107650442382010-01-04T14:53:00.014-06:002010-01-04T14:53:00.014-06:00Interesting. It seems strange to use the term &quo...Interesting. It seems strange to use the term "belief" in reference to a supposedly omniscient being. If, for example, I believe in an omniscient God, then I also believe that God only "believes" in things that are true. So if I am asked if God believes proposition p, I would need to know if p is true. Which in turn means that I have to consult my own beliefs about p. And if someone convinced me to change my mind about the truth of p, I would naturally change my belief about God's belief.<br /><br />But another way to look at it might be that people don't "know" God as well as they know, for example, a friend. If you asked me to reason about the beliefs of someone I don't know, in the absence of other information I would probably just fill in the gap with my own beliefs. To find out if this is the case, I guess we would have to compare the neural activity when someone is reasoning about God's belief's with their neural activity when reasoning about:<br /><br />a) The beliefs of someone they know well<br />b) The beliefs of someone they barely know<br />c) The beliefs of someone they don't know, but who they believe to be real<br />d) The beliefs of a hypothetical person<br />e) God's beliefs<br /><br />In other words, if people create God in their own image, is it because:<br /><br />1. They believe God is omniscient and therefore consult their own beliefs by the logic I outlined above)?<br />2. They feel they have insufficient knowledge of god's beliefs, and have no option but to fill in their own beliefs?<br />3. They have some other motive (e.g., wishful thinking)?Muddle-headed Wombathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03615793782263571255noreply@blogger.com