Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA00519 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 25 Sep 2000 15:04:43 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745A45@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: mysticism etc Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 15:02:07 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
I realise Robin is bowing out on this, there's one point here I just wanted
to respond to, and I'm not expecting a response from Robin, I just wanted to
put this out there. It contains a few rhetorical questions.
>The question is: what's it a metaphor for? All ideas are "just"
ideas,
>and that includes rationality, objectivity, reality, etc. But some
>ideas are more important than others because of what they stand
for.
(...)
> Psychology is
>what it's ALL about. It's just a pity neither the fundamentalists
nor
>the atheists can appreciate that. Both take it all too literally.
Of course all ideas are "just" ideas, but how we differentiate in terms of
the value of what ideas stand for? With a subjective stance, you end up
with relativism- if it works for you, then its legitimate, but as has been
argued here and elsewhere, relativism is a wholly unsatisfactory position to
end up in. What gives ideas value in my book is not so much what they stand
for but whether their utility, and thus their value can be empirically
demonstrated. After all, if two people have conflicting beliefs that
impinge on each other, how does one resolve that potential conflict in a
fair manner?
Psychology is vitally important in understanding people's beliefs and
behaviours, but anti-rational beliefs and practices I truly feel encourage
people to be delusional: They encourage people to avoid the material
reality around them in a whole host of different ways, such as denying the
existence of that material reality or describing it as merely a stage in
existence to be followed by something a lot better etc. etc., and I
definitely feel that's wrong. A crutch is still a crutch, even if it does
make people feel better, some day people are going to have to walk unaided,
or something/someone will come along to kick that crutch away.
Anyway, this hasn't got very much to do with memetics, so I promise to
reserve my next post for something meme-oriented!
Vincent
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