I am interested in the gap between fact and fantasy and why religious people like that place so much.
I’ll take the bible as an example, but this could easily be about any religion.
We haven’t found any evidence for the flood, the walls of Jericho, the arc and a whole lot of other things the bible mentions.
To me, that’s a gap, and I will jump around in the bible a bit to explain what I mean.
Creationists does not accept what we have found as facts. If it’s not in the bible, it doesn’t exist.
That is interesting.
Where I come from, most of those people will end up on medication or hospitalized.
After reading all these books, enjoying the stories in mainstream media and on the Internet, I’ve come to the conclusion that some people have a blind spot.
That blind spot forces their brain into tunnel vision when someone like me starts talking about facts, fossils, science and what we actually knows, exist.
We know, for instance, that a lot of guys was called Jesus in Jerusalem, at the time of “Jesus”.
There’s no trace of the bibles Jesus grave, his home, the resurrection, the miracles and so on.
We know some criminals where crucified, but there are no records of “Jesus”.
There’s a lot of other records about other people, but nothing about the guy in the bible.
And yet, Christians insist he existed, talked & walked and performed miracles…
Moses allegedly parted the sea and went for an unnecessary long walk in the desert.
No stone tablets, no records, no verification, that Moses even existed.
You think a thing like parting the sea should be mentined somewhere, aside from the bible.
The Egyptians, at the time, where manic about their archives, so it’s a mystery.
I recently talked with a Christian that tried to bullshit me with a lie about this Moses guy.
His “real name” should be “Senmut” and every scientist, archeologist and egyptologist should be looking at the “wrong” 300 years of Egyptian history.
I asked him where he got this information… turns out it was another “blind spot”, created by his priest.
So, I have a question for you.
Is there a blind spot?
A place where the brain ignores every fact and fills it with fantasy, myth or just plain lies.
The God Extinguisher 
Simple self delusion
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Simple self delusion… so strong it makes you kill and abuse people?
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Of course. That’s how they reinforce the delusion. Take a look at the gay-marriage thing going on right now in the US. Leviticus is the only reference. Leviticus also says you’re going to burn in hell if eat shrimp. See anyone protesting seafood restaurants? These people are literally insane.
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Is there a way to get them locked up in a mental hospital?
After all, they are a danger to themselves and to others.
And, if so, why is it that no one have tried it?
Freedom of religion?
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I wish! Some theists are afraid of just that happening, though. Read this when you get a chance:
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There is no blind spot. It’s a fucking huge valley! It’s about the size of the marianas trench.
I have been working on a theory of mind that says we experience the world around us through a simulation running in our brains. We use sensory data and acquired knowledge to inform the rules and data sets for that simulation. We arbitrarily decide what acquired information has more weight and which has less. Confirmation bias, giving more weight to those data sets which reinforce current simulation rules, allows the brain to ignore what is not consistent with current simulator rules and accept what is consistent even if it is untrue when compared with other information or that of other simulators. All it has to do is make sense within the framework of our current simulator rules and come from a source which is not already blacklisted by our brain.
There are so many things in life that we use without understanding how they work (phone, computer, car, microwave and so on) when confronted with something we don’t understand we are fairly well accustomed to ignoring the fact that we don’t understand it. In this way believers do not have to understand evolution to argue against it. Their little world (and we all live in our own little world simulators) is using information that it understands and which makes sense in context of the other information that they have in their simulation.
To demonstrate this to yourself, find someone that does not understand how microwave ovens work. Ask them how they think they might work. Generally get a sense of their notions about the ‘magic’ of microwave ovens. Then explain how they actually work in short simple sentences. Now just wait – they will have aha moments in rapid succession.
You can do this with anything not generally understood.
Those aha moments are the direct result of adjustments being made to the rules of the internal simulation in their brain. Their world has just changed.
No, they don’t have to accept your explanations. When they don’t, you can almost see them having an internal discussion about whether to change the rules of their simulation. They will argue in accordance with their simulation rules and do so with passion. As long as it’s an argument, they will argue. It’s only when you can get them to question their rules sets will they change them or allow for alternative data.
Essentially, their confirmation bias kicks in hard when your information contradicts the underpinning of their understanding of everything. What they do not understand about the world is, by many theists, explained as stuff that god does. Yes, in their minds, when they need to account for these misunderstood parts of the world, god did it with magic is their answer… at least internally. To contradict god or any of the ‘eveidence’ for that god means the entirety of their rule sets is in question. It’s not just those rules and data about god, but how they understand the world is in question. When your entire understanding of the world is in question it will feel as though you’re being called crazy. People fight against that to keep their world (the simulated one in their head) in tact.
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There’s got to be more to it.
I don’t know what it would take for me to kill or abuse people but I think it would take a lot.
Some theists does that without thinking, in a blink of an eye. Evern their own children.
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When the internal simulation in our heads has rules that permit morals that allow us to kill or let our kids die then there is no problem doing so. This can be nurtured in people. Since WWI the American political machine knows how and has done this. Slowly demonize the ‘enemy’ until all that is evil is blamed on them and ridding the world of such people will make all the rest of us better off. The trick is to adjust the internal simulation to the point that the rules say/show that until this other person is dead your own life will be or continue to be miserable… to the point that the killing is revenge for something not done.
When you set the rules in your simulation to the point that you ‘know’ god will heal your child, that internal simulation can tell you that interfering with god’s plan is to go against god for which you will burn forever. That level of fear is a strong motivator, over-riding all the other logic in your simulation. If your simulation rules lead every experiement to end in eternal torture, no matter how many ways you try to model the world it is a confounding thing. When you find that letting your child die while you pray preserves your heavenly reward you can convince yourself that it is part of god’s plan. All of this makes perfect sense while you still believe that a god exists.
Its a damn shame that YHWH was not brave enough to show an interest in medicine and instead preferred miracles.
What our simulations tell us is ‘real’ to us. They can be wrong, very wrong, but they are reality to us. How many people drank the coolaid and fed it to their children in Jonestown? They had all been adjusting their internal simulations together, in the same ways. WWII Germany did the same thing. With an adjusted reality such evil is easily accomplished.
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The gaping hole you refer to as a blind spot exists as a mighty persuasion named “faith”. The marketing genius holding it all together. The faithful – easy to control, impervious to reason, and incapable of free thought.
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Yes but they must see what is wrong with their actions? Killing abusing, opression bigotry and everything else…
How do they justify all that? I know they’re saying “it’s gods will” and such, but how do they justify it in their brains?
We all know what is right and what is wrong… well, most of us do.
We do not go around killing people because they don’t agree with us.
There’s the giant gap, the blind spot.
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The mistake is in assuming the “faithful” justify their actions as we do. We can’t expect them to rationalize like the rest of us. I think that is the blind spot. The expression – blind faith – exists for a reason.
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Good point.
I have examined this erratic behaviour in all kinds of religions and the only way i know how to describe it, is a mental disorder.
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Long ago, I gave up attempts to penetrate the blind spot. Realizing that nothing I or anyone else said – however logical, sensible, or scientific – could crack the shell of blind faith. Knowing how impenetrable faith can be, I choose instead to champion the cause of accountability.I honestly don’t care what anyone believes as long as i don’t have to hear about it.Instead of focusing on the sheep we should concentrate on the wolves, Demand the same rules of law apply to Catholic pedophiles, charge them with hate crimes when they they speak out against gays, audit their non-profit asses within an inch of their lives, ban reference to God from political speeches.
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