cofty

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Posts by cofty

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  9

  Dawkins v Haidt on Evolutionary Advantage of Religion

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.. dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  this is almost certainly true but is religion more than that?

  dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous.

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  cofty

  Fink & Vidiot - I agree but the failure of religion to determine what is objectively true about the world is nothing at all to do with this topic.
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  9

  Dawkins v Haidt on Evolutionary Advantage of Religion

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.. dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  this is almost certainly true but is religion more than that?

  dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous.

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  cofty

  I am inclined to think that at the tribal level it worked for internal order and submission to common values which made for unity. But that is not evolution. - Half banana

  Individuals prosper within a group if that individual's brain is wired with certain instincts that make them effective members of that group.

  That is evolution.

  Group cohesion is vastly increased by the "hive instinct" that is triggered by shared rituals.
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  9

  Dawkins v Haidt on Evolutionary Advantage of Religion

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.. dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  this is almost certainly true but is religion more than that?

  dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous.

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  cofty

  Ever since the Enlightenment, we have evolved intellectually and started to obey reason as the foundation for truth.

  The possible usefulness of religion has nothing to do with truth. Haidt agrees that nothing religion says about the world is objectively true - or where it is, it is not something we could not get at by more reliable methods.

  The benefit of religion was/is its ability to activate our "hive instinct" and make it possible for larger social groups to coalesce. The second video is an introduction to this idea..

  I recommend his book "The Righteous Mind" where he describes the evolutionary origins of morality...
  
  
  
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  15

  Islam terrorist finally gets it right

  by _Morpheus in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4642504/amp/isis-suicide-bomber-kills-12-comrades-wishing-luck.html.

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  cofty

  The Daily Mail has a right wing bias but is not usually connected with making up stories.

  This article was taken from a report in Iraqi News...

  ---

  Founded in 2000, Iraqi News is a private English-language online newspaper that covers a range of Iraqi issues, including security, business, politics, social issues, culture, entertainment and sport. It has no link to any political party or interest group. Through its neutral reporting, Iraqi News works to promote democracy, freedom, human rights and business growth in Iraq as a post-war society. Iraqi News promises to put its readers first by providing them with true information about what is really happening in Iraq, the Middle East and beyond.
  
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  9

  Dawkins v Haidt on Evolutionary Advantage of Religion

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.. dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  this is almost certainly true but is religion more than that?

  dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous.

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  cofty

  This talk helps to introduce Haidt's concept of hive instinct. You need to pay close attention to avoid misunderstanding his thoughts on group selection.

  ...
• 
  9

  Dawkins v Haidt on Evolutionary Advantage of Religion

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.. dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  this is almost certainly true but is religion more than that?

  dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous.

  1. 
  2. 
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• 

  cofty

  Dawkins uses an interesting analogy comparing religious instincts to a moth's attraction to a candle flame.

  Dawkins describes religion as an accidental byproduct of a whole range of psychological predispositions such as a child's instinct to believe and obey its parents - he might have mentioned hyperactive agency detection as well.

  This is almost certainly true but is religion more than that? Dawkins declines to speculate on whether the byproduct - religion - is an evolutionary advantage, only that the instincts which resulted in religion were advantageous. In this regard he is at odds with Jonathan Haidt who describes how it may still serve a useful function...

  In other words, Dawkins and Haidt agree on how religion got started, but Haidt goes further and insists that religion itself was an advantage to humans as a social species. To go back to Dawkin's analogy, the instincts that cause a moth to kill itself in a candle flame were advantageous to its ancestors, but the byproduct - death by candle flame - is not. In this regard Haidt would reject the analogy.

  Significantly Dawkins finishes his answer in the video with the comment that "the religious byproduct is either neutral or ... well I, we don't even need to say whether it has an advantage, it doesn't matter..." Was Dawkins going to say that religion is either neutral or harmful? I don't know but he stopped himself from finishing that thought.

  I tend to disagree with Dawkins. I think Haidt may be onto something.

  ...
• 
  15

  Islam terrorist finally gets it right

  by _Morpheus in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4642504/amp/isis-suicide-bomber-kills-12-comrades-wishing-luck.html.

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  cofty

  Strong candidate for Darwin Award.
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  24

  WT - Study Ed, October 2017 - The Truth Brings, “Not Peace, But a Sword”

  by Sanchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another article analyzing how bad poor jw's have it when it comes to opposition from family.

  few interesting quotes:.

  parr 2:.

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  cofty

  There are many good things about JWs - SBF

  In other news Mussolini made the trains run on time.
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  23

  New Here

  by Red.tomato in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi everyone, this is my first post .. it takes a little bit of courage to do it, i have to admit and even thought i have been lurking for some time as time goes by it gets more and more difficult to keep attending meetings and just been around the friends in the congregation.

  ever since i learned about the arc something inside of me just broke and it feels pretty hollow, now i pay attention to every single form of manipulation in every direction, what difference it makes with the catholic church or with any other religions ?

  i wonder why the publishers are under obligation to report about their lives and decisions to the elders but they don´t keep informed the congregation about what´s going on legally other than russia.

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  cofty

  Welcome to the forum. Look forward to your future posts.
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  65

  My Younger Brother Has Left The Witnesses!! :-D

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  absolutely thrilled to give you the news that my younger brother, a zealous full-time pioneer has left the witnesses!!.

  i haven't seen or spoke to him in a year.

  i'd lost all contact with him, no facebook, no mobile number, i didn't even know his address because he'd moved house.

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  cofty

  Fantastic news!