On Feb 5, 2005, at 10:45 AM, Dan Minette wrote:
So, this tendency to hold onto "known truths" no matter how they are called
into question by evidence is seen in many forms, not just religious or
political. There are many times when the first criterion for accepting
evidence is whether or not it supports what one "already knows."
I don't think anyone would disagree. However, it is religion which is most often the holder of those revealed truths (hence the term).
I'm still inclined to think this whole tendency to cling to ideas over reality is *partly* because we (species) are evolved to see the world as a polar place. It would have been a very effective preconscious survival strategy and is so deeply wired into us that intelligence has to work *hard* to override it.
It's easy to get people thinking in polar terms because of the predisposition to do so; and because it just takes less *effort* to think in Boolean terms; and because if you (example) try to understand why your enemy is your enemy, you start seeing some of your face in his (or at least understanding why he's your enemy), and that makes some people uncomfortable as hell.
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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