davidamann
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davidamann has not written any posts yet.
davidamann has not written any posts yet.
I believe that you have an unexamined assumption in your post. Namely, can you have any effect on what your child believes?
A book by Judith Rich Harris called "The Nurture Assumption" makes the case that it is not parents that shape a child's attitudes and beliefs, but the child's peers. Parents impact on children tends to be primarily genetic and in the basics (no abuse, well fed and clothed, and choosing the general environment where the child is raised.) For a more detailed look on Harris's argument, see Malcolm Gladwell's article at http://www.gladwell.com/1998/1998_08_17_a_harris.htm .
If you agree with Harris's argument, you might rethink your attitude towards your child's belief in God or Santa Claus. They will probably make up their own mind about it despite your best efforts.
Hope this contributes to the discussion.
David
This "trying to believe" tactic is much more explicitly used in areas where there is randomness or unpredictability.
My business is finance. As a financial advisor, I am constantly "trying to believe" in things like regression to the mean, long term performance of the market vs. short term volatility, the efficacy of asset allocation.
But each day I am faced with evidence that causes me to doubt my rationally held beliefs about investing.
I think baseball players may have similar issues with batting. They may rationally know that it's only practice and talent that improve their performance, but they still notice that when they where the red underwear they hit better.... (read more)
The haunted rationalist is probably an example of a physiological response tied to a shared cultural delusion. In strange places, when we are alone, we often can feel nervous or fearful. I remember feeling this way when I was alone in our church growing up, or when I was alone in our own house for the first time as a teenager.
There's probably a physiological reason for this. Perhaps we produce more adrenaline when left alone after a period of close cohabitation with others. This would be a useful evolutionary trait allowing us to be more aware of our surroundings.
Tie this initial physiological reaction in with "shared cultural delusions"... (read more)
I don't think that the "effort" distinction is banal at all.
The "lying" scenario provides us with much more information about the "liar", than the "keeping secrets" scenario provides us about the "secret keeper". Let me go into this in more detail.
An individual assumes that others have mental states, but that individual has no direct access to those mental states. An individual can only infer mental states through the physical actions of another.
For now, let's assume that an individual who can more accurately infer others mental states from their actions will be "happier" or "more successful" than an individual who cannot.
So, given this assumption, every... (read more)
I think a better way to frame this issue would be the following method.
For example, if I respond to your question of the solitary traveler with "You shouldn't do it because of biological concerns." Accept the answer and then ask, what would need to change in this situation for you to accept the killing of the traveler as moral?
I remember this method giving me deeper insight into the Happiness Box experiment.
Here is how the process works:
- There is a happiness box. Once you enter
... (read more)