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Effectronica posted:I mean that if we have a natural-yet-unobserved mechanism that enforces truthful beliefs, it is odd that it should only operate on some beliefs and not others, at least not without creating a further, unobserved hierarchy of beliefs. I believe that parsimony suggests that this is not to be preferred. Belief informs behaviour, the veracity of a belief correlates positively with the evolutionary utility of the behaviour (I believe I can eat X, I actually can eat X, therefore I will eat X and not die, more beneficial than not believing I can eat X) this forms the basis of the truth-determining mechanism. Obviously it requires correct connections to be drawn between correct observations and correct behaviours, which people may not consistently do, but it is more likely to form a correct behaviour from a correct belief than from an incorrect one, as no matter the reasoning ability, incorrect infromation is unlikely to lead to a correct conclusion. The reason we don't have 100% correct beliefs is because random chance plays a more significant part in our existence and reproductive ability than does our conscious control over our environment. Correct observation and correct reasoning/subsequent behaviour is beneficial but if you have a lovely starting point it won't help you as much as simply being born into a beneficial situation, so it is not necessary for any given individual to be good at reasoning or observing in order to propagate either physically or ideologically.
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Aug 16, 2015 06:24
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Effectronica posted:That is, how can natural selection distinguish between thinking "Brightly-colored animals are dangerous" and "Brightly-colored animals are cuddly" without any corresponding actions to act on, while still preventing us from reading minds without taking a peek at them? It doesn't... If beliefs existed entirely in a vacuum and had no bearing on our behaviour then they would be entirely unobservable and entirely irrelevant. But our beliefs do inform our behaviour and thus can be evolutionarily selected for because some behaviours have more evolutionary utility than others. What does telepathy have to do with it?
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Aug 16, 2015 16:04
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