pangeaprogressredux
“Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable arrangements of matter, with many ways for things to go wrong and only a few ways for things to go right. We are certain to die, and smart enough to know it. Our minds are adapted to a world that no longer exists, prone to misunderstandings correctable only by arduous education, and condemned to perplexity about the deepest questions we can ascertain.”
— Steven Pinker
“The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by a sharp blow or by insufficient oxygen.”
— Steven Pinker (How the Mind Works)
“Though many of my arguments will be coolly analytical — that an acknowledgment of human nature does not, logically speaking, imply the negative outcomes so many people fear — I will not try to hide my belief that they have a positive thrust as well. “Man will become better when you show him what he is like,” wrote Chekhov, and so the new sciences of human nature can help lead the way to a realistic, biologically informed humanism. They expose the psychological unity of our species beneath the superficial differences of physical appearance and parochial culture. They make us appreciate the wondrous complexity of the human mind, which we are apt to take for granted precisely because it works so well. They identify the moral intuitions that we can put to work in improving our lot. They promise a naturalness in human relationships, encouraging us to treat people in terms of how they do feel rather than how some theory says they ought to feel. They offer a touchstone by which we can identify suffering and oppression wherever they occur, unmasking the rationalizations of the powerful. They give us a way to see through the designs of self-appointed social reformers who would liberate us from our pleasures. They renew our appreciation for the achievements of democracy and of the rule of law. And they enhance the insights of artists and philosophers who have reflected on the human condition for millennia.”
— Steven Pinker (The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature)
The human mind evolved to believe in the gods. It did not evolve to believe in biology.
E. O. Wilson
Steven Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The New Republic, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, Words and Rules, The Blank Slate, and most recently, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.
Source
What, the compassion a 93% christian showed the jews when they worked them to death and threw them in the ovens?
*christian nation* I meant.
Empathy and compassion most certainly DOES about by nature because we wouldn't be here without it as we were without religion shortly after we left the African savanna 100-200,000 years ago and if you say the earth is 6,000 years old you can fuck off you YEC religitard.
* come about * Sorry, I'm partially sighted and make mistakes sometimes.
No one ever said the earth was 6000 years old. The bible was written by priests.It was written for that time period.It was written for that audeiness with limited stock pile of information they had at the time.We now have been stock piling alot more information which lead up to a better understanding of God.As a child I didn't have a memory of anything till I was 5 years old. I had to be taught empathy and compassion.I feel is that there is right and wrong and everyone is motivated by money and
Very well
"God does exist and we feel his effect through his protection as we travel through this universe."
I see. Which protection do the millions who die of starvation every year feel? How about people who die of natural disasters like tsunamis or hurricanes?
"Empathy and compassion for your fellow man is something that need to be taught it doesn't not come by nature."
Nonsense. You can observe both in all kinds of animals.
"Two main concepts of being a christians Love God as you love your Parents and have compassion and empathy toward your fellow man."
Not really, no. Christian theology only teaches one such concept and that is "obedience to authority" or "might makes right" if you will. The reason for doing anything that's commanded in the bible is that you'd better do it or some really powerful guy is going to burn you in his lake of fire for eternity.
"No one ever said the earth was 6000 years old."
Well, if what the authors of the bible wrote about Jesus is true, then at least human history on earth can not extend further back than 6-10000 years due to Jesus' genealogy stretching back to Adam. Now, if you want to hold that they were lying to make Jesus fit the prophecies of a Davidic messiah, then that's ok, but it begs the question of why you'd believe anything else they had to say.
I could go further though, and point out that the bible claims Jesus cured epilepsy by casting out demons. We know the cause of epilepsy today, and it has nothing to do with demons. Do you hold that epilepsy was caused by demons back in year 30 and that this changed sometime between then and now? =) or did the biblical authors lie about that as well? Or did Jesus personally lie about it?
"We now have been stock piling alot more information which lead up to a better understanding of God."
Actually, no. We have been stockpiling a lot of information that falsifies a bunch of claims about gods, often such information also destroys the very claims that motivated the gods. For example, the notion that humans have souls is utterly dead after having been massacred by the brain sciences.
and the cats pee's on you
Too long; didn't listen
I would like this "expert on the mind" to explain what the pineal gland is, what it "evolved" for, the effect of fluoride on it, and why the so called elite/governments insist on putting it in drinking water. I understand it was first used by the Nazis in concentration camps. I have scoured youtube and I am yet to hear this guy even mention it, and I am wondering why?
The odd part is, also in the room is a man chasing a mouse, a man chasing a dog and a man chasing himself.
The motivating factor behind the Judeo-Christian belief system is a misguided “ego-attachment” to guilt/shame/low self-esteem: “I’m inherently bad, a sinner, and therefore need to be saved (by a supernatural being.)”
Eastern religions tend to reject a God concept and instead teach people to explore their psychological makeup, and learn to give up their ego-attachment to negativity.
All “religions” are not cut from the same cloth; religion/dogma is not the same as spirituality/self-discovery.
thanks but I can't take credit for it……….I remember hearing it from a seminar……
I love the quotes beneath the vid
@0:34,
This might explain the elaborate detail and description of Dante and Milton, but it fails to explain the intense, yet boring, theological debates and historically close connections between science, philosophy, and religion. William James' ideas are more plausible.
Prof. Stephen Hawking in his latest book “THE GRAND DESIGN”, explains that there is no god of any kind. The believe in any god is for ignorant people like when the American Indians believed in the rain god because they did not know the water cycle, now even young children understand that cycle. In the next 15 to 20 years most religions will disappear with advancement of quantum mechanics for the benefit of people except for those who live making people believe in any god.
As we never can know anything there will always be a believe (in god) for some people. Unfortunately.
This guy is about as full of crap as you can get and has never had a supernatural experience.
the thing is that when you take god or religion out of the pitcher there are a lot of fillling that you have to tell us where thy bgan there are a lot of thing in this world that if you look at them with a clear mine and open heart it will show you that there is and must be something greater then us and that is god……
Steven talks about the sacrifices that must be made in religions to gain membership. He gives examples of things like burning your best crops or circumcising your child. It makes me wonder about the less costly public displays of faith that people make to gain group acceptance. There are many situations (and religion is certainly included here) where we are expected to make pointless displays of solidarity with the tribe. Things like the pledge of allegiance, which means nothing but we all say it. Somehow people assign value here but there really isn't any. The pledge, to use that example again, could be said by anyone. Certainly if someone were a spy they would have no hesitation saying the pledge. What is the root of this?
brilliant!
The man Who founded Christianity promoted love & peace. He said to love ones' enemies, give to the poor , take care of widows & orphans & promoted the value of women. Religion is murderous & eventually murdered the Man of peace. Religion is intolerant & beheads children & anyone else that stands in its way. Religion oppresses women. If allowed to run its course, religion will murder everyone on the planet who oppose it.
I mostly agree with Pinker on what he says. However, on the issue of circumcision, many people do this for non-religious reasons (who aren't even Jewish) and many Jews do this just out of custom, not because they think there is a god who wants this done. There may have been a time, historically speaking, when circumcision was a bigger deal in terms of a sign of allegiance to a religious belief and to be part of a group. Today, that is much less the case. I also think that religion, as false as it may be in terms of revelation from a creator to his creation, that the belief can indeed give one strength, such as in war or bad times, that could be beneficial. Think about drug addicts or alcoholics who find Jesus. There is no Jesus who really helps them kick the habit, but the idea of Jesus (even if the addict thinks it's real and not just an idea) can serve as a powerful force to help.
It would be equally interesting to hear a "Psychology of Atheism" segment.
this is not enlightening at all. it acts as if religion makes people do things. people choose to do things. religions is just a tool. pinker is acting as if religion maliciously preys upon people, however, the opposite is true. humans ise religious rituals and symbolism for its psychological benefits, as well as the socializing aspect. this completely oliterates individuality