RE: Dawkins was right all along

From: Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Date: Sun Sep 23 2001 - 23:21:02 BST

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From: "Richard Brodie" <richard@brodietech.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: Dawkins was right all along
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 15:21:02 -0700
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    Wade, I usually understand your point even if I disagree, but I'm confused
    by your calling a belief a behavior. Isn't a belief something you believe
    and a behavior something you do?

    Richard

    -----Original Message-----
    From: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf Of
    Wade T.Smith
    Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001 2:51 PM
    To: Memetics Discussion List
    Subject: Re: Dawkins was right all along

    Hi Bill Spight -

    >Please show how learning is, by definition, necessary for belief, using
    >the dictionary definition.

    A belief is "Something believed or accepted as true, especially a
    particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons."

    I fail to see how believing tenets accepted by a group of persons is not
    a learned behavior.

    But, really, semantics and definitions aside, religion _is_ a learned
    behavior. Period. It is not innate. Acting as the agent of a religion is
    a learned behavior. Period. It is not innate. Accepting rewards in an
    afterlife is a belief, and beliefs are tenets held _without evidence_.
    Learned tenets.

    Explain how one gets tales of an afterlife without being taught same.

    - Wade

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