Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA05379 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 24 Sep 2001 15:46:16 +0100 From: "Lawrence DeBivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Dawkins was right all along Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 08:05:28 -0400 Message-ID: <NEBBKOADILIOKGDJLPMAMEJECGAA.debivort@umd5.umd.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <20010924124236.AAA22568@camailp.harvard.edu@[128.103.125.215]> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Some thoughts on beliefs and behaviors:
When it comes to changing a person's belief or his or her behavior, similar
intervention patterns can be used. Having a given belief can be treated as a
choice: one can hold on to the belief, or modify it, or discard it entirely.
In the same way, one can continue a behavior, modify it or cease it
entirely.
From a practical point of view, the only significant difference that I can
see between the two is that a belief is a linguistic construct, resident
within the body/brain, whereas, I think, a behavior has to have some
physical, external manifestation. To modify a belief, it's linguistic
expression must be modified; to change a behavior, its physical expression
must be modified.
In terms of their influence within a person, I think key beliefs are more
'powerful' than behaviors. A change in belief is likely to create a change
in a person's relevant behavior, whereas a change in behavior may have no
impact on a person's key beliefs, other than the judgment that one behavior
is more effective than another. As we are seeing here, the strength of some
of their beliefs are closing down for their holders consideration of the
possibility that there may be superior behavioral options available to them.
Lawrence
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf Of
> Wade T.Smith
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001 8:42 AM
> To: memetics list
> Subject: RE: Dawkins was right all along
>
>
> On 09/23/01 18:21, Richard Brodie said this-
>
> >I'm confused
> >by your calling a belief a behavior. Isn't a belief something you believe
> >and a behavior something you do?
>
> If, in response to a real world situation, like a ladder falling on an
> infant causing it's death, you say, 'it's god's will'- that is a learned
> response behavior, explaining the event. The need to have such a response
> at the ready, rather than a response to discover the real cause and
> possibly prevent such an occurance in the future, is holding a belief.
>
> I'm more saying that the holding of such a belief is a behavior, because
> it prevents further study of the facts of the event.
>
> Beliefs need to be held, because they are false (in that skeptic's
> definition of false- without evidence, again, using the definition of
> belief as a contention without facts). Holding something that is false is
> a behavior.
>
> I think....
>
> - Wade
>
> ===============================================================
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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