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Nice, you got a massive stick to beat them with…beat those fools with your superior intellect.

Terr_ 3y ago
> Nice, you got a massive stick to beat them with…beat those fools with your superior intellect. I see a snide personal insult, however it seems to be missing any potentially redeeming point/argument about biology or the philosophy of science.
- akomtu 3y ago
  What's the end goal of the belief that everything is a mechanism, blindly following some rules? Say, you've convinced yourself that you're an organic mechanism driven by dna mutations or whatever, and then what?
  - jamilton 3y ago
    Why does it need an "and then what"? Personally, I prefer to know and believe things that are true rather than false, when possible.
  - Terr_ 3y ago
    > What's the end goal of the belief So you will "believe" something is true... based on whether it gets you something that you want? I really don't think that's how it's supposed to work. In fact in many cases it's called "lying." You ought to be believing something because it seems to fit the evidence that exists without involving stuff that's absent. Not because it advances your goal or agenda. > and then what? And then what... what? Exactly what are you saying ought to be next? In fact, why does anything need to be next? Suppose you've convinced yourself that you're being pulled down by "gravity", a completely impersonal effect driven by the nature of bulk raw materials... "And then what?" Is the theory of "Gravity" inferior to the theory of "Earth Is Hugging You From Love", simply because the latter leaves you with residual good feelings or the promise of affection?
    - TheMode 3y ago
      I am not a religious, but being happy seems more important than being right. I do not know what battle you are fighting.
      - currency 3y ago
        It's a discussion about motivated reasoning. Whether being happy is more important depends on your motive for what you're trying to reason out. If you're trying to reason out how a biological system works, your emotional context seems orthogonal to achieving a useful conclusion.
    - akomtu 3y ago
      If you're a mechanism, which part of you makes a choice to do something vs something else?
  - LiquidSky 3y ago
    What a strange question. The truth is the truth, what one makes of it is a separate matter.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

> Nice, you got a massive stick to beat them with…beat those fools with your superior intellect. I see a snide personal insult, however it seems to be missing any potentially redeeming point/argument about biology or the philosophy of science.

akomtu 3y ago
What's the end goal of the belief that everything is a mechanism, blindly following some rules? Say, you've convinced yourself that you're an organic mechanism driven by dna mutations or whatever, and then what?
- jamilton 3y ago
  Why does it need an "and then what"? Personally, I prefer to know and believe things that are true rather than false, when possible.
- Terr_ 3y ago
  > What's the end goal of the belief So you will "believe" something is true... based on whether it gets you something that you want? I really don't think that's how it's supposed to work. In fact in many cases it's called "lying." You ought to be believing something because it seems to fit the evidence that exists without involving stuff that's absent. Not because it advances your goal or agenda. > and then what? And then what... what? Exactly what are you saying ought to be next? In fact, why does anything need to be next? Suppose you've convinced yourself that you're being pulled down by "gravity", a completely impersonal effect driven by the nature of bulk raw materials... "And then what?" Is the theory of "Gravity" inferior to the theory of "Earth Is Hugging You From Love", simply because the latter leaves you with residual good feelings or the promise of affection?
  - TheMode 3y ago
    I am not a religious, but being happy seems more important than being right. I do not know what battle you are fighting.
    - currency 3y ago
      It's a discussion about motivated reasoning. Whether being happy is more important depends on your motive for what you're trying to reason out. If you're trying to reason out how a biological system works, your emotional context seems orthogonal to achieving a useful conclusion.
  - akomtu 3y ago
    If you're a mechanism, which part of you makes a choice to do something vs something else?
- LiquidSky 3y ago
  What a strange question. The truth is the truth, what one makes of it is a separate matter.
deleted 3y ago
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