nancyallen posted:

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Granted this isn't from O'hair herself but the fact people are attempting to use her name in a bid to ban religious broadcasting seems to indicate whoever is behind it opposes religion.

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DorkmanScott posted:

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It's all about individual and social conditioning.

On a cultural level, belief in God is so ingrained that in religious nations it ranges between taboo to a capital crime to even express the thought that perhaps there is no God. So adults teach it as truth to their children who, never having a reason to question it and often having very good reasons not to (aforementioned societal pressures, psychological fear of Hell), accept it as truth and thereafter teach it as truth to their children, etc.

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"Festinger immediately saw an opportunity...to study the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance, the mental tension cre­ated when a person holds two conflicting thoughts simultaneously. "Sup­pose an individual believes something with his whole heart," Festinger said. "Suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view." Many of Keech's followers had quit their jobs, left their spouses, and given away their pos­sessions. Festinger predicted that these individuals with the strongest behavioral commitment would be the least likely to admit their error when the prophecy failed and instead rationalize a positive outcome.
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As two of Festinger's students-Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson-demonstrate in their aptly titled book, Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), our ability to rationalize our choices and actions through self-justification knows no bounds.
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One of the practical benefits of self-justification is that no matter what decisioin we make - to take this or that job, to marry this or that person, to purchase this or that product-we will almost always be satis­fied with the decision, even when the objective evidence is to the con­trary. Once the decision is made, we carefully screen subsequent information and filter out all contradictory data, leaving only evidence in support of our choice.
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The deeper evolutionary foundation to self-justification, cognitive disso­nance, and the elevation of truth telling and mistake admission to a moral principle worthy of praise can be found in the psychology of deception(and self-deception). Research shows that we are better at deception than at deception detection, but liars get caught often enough that it is risky to attempt to deceive others, especially people with whom we spend a lot of time. The more we interact with someone, the more that person is likely to pick up on the cues we give when we are attempting to deceive, particularly nonverbal cues such as taking a deep breath, looking away from the person we are talking to, and hesitating before answering. But those cues are less likely to be expressed if you actually believe the lie yourself. II This is the power of self-deception, which evolved in our ancestors as a means of fool­ing fellow group members who would otherwise catch our deceptions.

Lord_Vivec posted:

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That's not the offensive part, JKH. The offensive part is attributing religion to ignorance. Therefore, Scott is calling me ignorant.

I'm sure if he knew me in real life, he'd think differently. Hence why what he said is a generalization and a personal attack.

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DorkmanScott posted:

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I don't think it was particularly veiled at all.

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Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon posted:

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I know you feel that any insult to your religion is an insult to you personally, but there is no reason for non-religious people to feel that way.

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