thread: 2011-07-11 : Hooray for Religion
On 2011-07-14, C Luke Mula wrote:
Let me see if I understand. The unverified belief that "elevator = God is mad" puts me in a state in which I will naturally develop the verified belief that "elevator = I feel horrible", and thus I avoid the elevator to avoid feeling horrible. Is that what you're saying?
In a very, very basic way, yes.
And keep in mind that, even though the belief "I expect other Jews to disapprove" is eventually, directly verifiable, it is still a belief until the actual results have played out. Yes, we may be able to logically predict that reaction based on its consistency in the past, but it's still a belief we hold that they will react that way.
The reason it isn't all that different from the belief that "God will disapprove" is that there is a consistency to that reaction as well, though not directly verifiable. If people we greatly respect and, more importantly, greatly trust consistently tell us that God disapproves when we use the elevator, then what reason is there to believe otherwise?
And I'm not saying this is a good thing. I'm just saying it's a thing.
