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Desirability of religion and the non-cognitive function of misbeliefs

Explore the adaptive and protecting functions of misbeliefs, with a focus on religion, using cognitive and evolutionary approaches. Investigate the function of misbeliefs and their relationship to human rationality.

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Desirability of religion and the non-cognitive function of misbeliefs

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  1. Konrad Talmont-Kaminski (Marie Curie-Sklodowska U., Poland) Desirability of religion and the non-cognitive function of misbeliefs

  2. Background • Philosopher of science • Investigating superstitious and religious beliefs • Their relation to human rationality • Using • Cognitive approaches • Evolutionary explanations of human behaviour • Philosophy of science

  3. Plan • Adaptive misbeliefs • Protecting misbeliefs • Plausible misbeliefs • Desirability of misbeliefs • Investigating misbeliefs

  4. Adaptive misbeliefs • Misbeliefs can motivate adaptive behaviour • Fear of Fri 13th leads to avoiding train crash • Coincidental • Only significant if systematic • Possible systematic examples • Magical contagion • Religion

  5. Adaptive misbeliefs • Magical Contagion (Paul Rozin) • Cardigan example (Bruce Hood) • Fear of ‘catching’ evil • Invisible vehicles of contagion passed by contact • Very useful given bacteria & viruses • False explanation, partly true (overgeneralised) correlation • Role of explanation? • Ideas of magical contagion motivate behaviour • Ideas of magical contagion post hoc explanation of behaviour • Studied extensively by Paul Rozin • Misbelief explained as by-product of cognitive heuristic

  6. Adaptive misbeliefs • The “boy who cried wolf” problem • Misbelief in the face of counterevidence • McKay and Dennett, BBS (forthcoming) • Misbelief unstable due to counterevidence • Can not be systematically adaptive • Disproved misbeliefs • Rejected • Reinterpreted

  7. Protecting misbeliefs • Misbeliefs can be protected against counterevidence • Talmont-Kaminski, BBS (forthcoming) & Teorema 28.3 • Protected misbeliefs stable • Can still motivate behaviour • Three ways to protect misbeliefs • Content • Social context • Methodological context

  8. Protecting misbeliefs • Content of stable misbeliefs • Avoid content in direct conflict with experience • Claim epistemic impediments • Invisibility – ghosts, Christian god • Shyness – faeries • Distant locale – dragons, Olympic gods • Shape-shifting – Olympic gods • Vagueness – New Age beliefs • Problem • Belief in the face of the lack of evidence

  9. Protecting misbeliefs • Social context of misbeliefs • Make investigation of misbeliefs socially unacceptable • The sacred – religious and magical beliefs • Religious relics • Respecting religious beliefs above other kinds • Disparage curiosity • Oppose rational criticism • Problem • Stultifies progress

  10. Protecting misbeliefs • Methodological context of misbeliefs • Related to social context • Limit access to science • Scientific equipment • Scientific methods • Scientific attitudes • Problem • Limited access to science • Not an issue traditionally

  11. Plausible misbeliefs • Why believe without evidence? • Not really a problem • Only problem with perfectly rational beings • Why believe without evidence the things we do? • Primarily: Due to the particularities of human cognitive system • Secondarily: Due to function of the beliefs

  12. Plausible misbeliefs • By-products of cognitive heuristics • Type I errors (Skinner, Error Management Theory) • Magical contagion (Rozin) • Cognitive science of religion • Minimally counterintuitive concepts (Boyer) • Hyperactive agency detection device (Guthrie)

  13. Desirability of misbeliefs • What, if anything, is the function of misbeliefs? • Not to accurately represent the world • Protecting against disconfirmation ensures truth of a belief is coincidental • Allows other functions to determine popularity of belief • Function must depend upon the behaviour motivated by the belief

  14. Desirability of misbeliefs • Several possibilities • Adaptive for individuals • Costly-signalling (Sosis) • Adaptive for groups • Pro-social behaviour (D. S. Wilson) • Adaptive for beliefs • Memetic virus (Dawkins, Blackmore) • Not directly functional • Simply a by-product (Boyer)

  15. Desirability of misbeliefs • Which thesis about function is correct? • Need to investigate religion to find out • Answer may be complex • Is religion is something desirable for us? • Universally assumed by religious individuals • Dennett’s “Belief in belief” • Need to investigate religion to find out • Not necessarily even if an individual adaptation • Dennett’s question: Who thinks that their goal in life is to have as many kids as possible?

  16. Investigating misbeliefs • Problem • Investigation of religion • Requires scientific attitude • Maintaining positive effects of religious claims • Requires maintaining belief in those claims • Which requires • Protecting those beliefs • Investigation of religion undermines its function • Even if that function happens to be individually desirable

  17. Thank you Konrad Talmont-Kaminski konrad@talmont.com deisidaimon.wordpress.com McKay & Dennett Evolution of Misbelief, Behavioral & Brain Sciences (forthcoming) Talmont-Kaminski, Effective untestability and bounded rationality help to see religion is adaptive misbelief, Behavioral & Brain Sciences (forthcoming) Talmont-Kaminski, Fixation of superstitious beliefs, Teorema 28.3

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