Thank you for making that point. I agree that logic is not the only suitable tool for discovering the truth. I should have been clear about the target audience for the terminology used in that post. Also, I agree that the "language" I used, currently, would not be efficient when communicating with the majority of human beings. With that in mind, I agree that communication/discussion/explanation/persuasion/information should incorporate morality, emotion, logic etc... in the order and proportions that make the "energy expense" receivable/usable for the majority of the audience.
Maybe the order is emotion, morality then logic. When I examine myself I see that hearing some sort of "news" elicits emotion first for varying duration based on many variables. That usually leads to my thinking "that's not right" or "what a horrible thing to do". The morality then leads to "why does this anger or excite me" and "why is that right or wrong". I think people who have had the privilege of "continuing education"(more stimuli) will be more likely to perform introspection, but I believe that you are right in saying that humans encounter many different combinations of emotion, morality and logic. Globally, there is a great diversity of human beings who are unique, and each has encountered unique sets of stimuli across their life(time) that compounds their uniqueness. Because the audience is diverse those, who possess and utilize a diversity of "communication skills", will be more capable when attempting to relate with a majority of that diverse audience. When people live in a country where a diversity of languages are spoken, those who are bi, tri or multilingual will likely benefit accordingly. If the majority of a given persons' interactions are with a single language, he or she can "afford" to invest more in what is needed for primary interactions. This trade-off will be relative to the extent that resources are acquired through social interactions. A person living in the country side that interacts/acquires through a small, less diverse group that speaks one language(including with an accent), can afford not to invest as much energy in learning the languages that are more necessary for the high diversity scenario. The diversity(and complexity) of interactions in our solar system, in turn, favors that diversity of genetics. If energy is to stay in the system termed "genes", genes will benefit from genetic diversity to ensure its relative stability(survival). A environment with a diversity of pathogens/diseases etc..., will favor a diversity of genetic code for the immune "system". A diversity of soil types favors a diversity phenotypic expressions. A diverse market place(economy) favors a diverse "portfolio". Diverse job duties favors a diverse skill set. A diversity of robbers favors a diversity of hiding spots for eggs. These analogies are possible because the same root cause is expressed across different combinations of stimuli(situations), and as the environment, markets, job duties, robbers change; how we allocate resources will need "Change". I believe that because all pathways(communication) are built by the same fundamental material, the possibility for translation exists. Just as we have language translators, we can translate similar words(beleifs) across other languages(religions). I believe one day Religions will be viewed as a local adaptation(mind strategy) for the particular social environment, geographic local etc..., from which it arose. Whether the religion of people high in the Andes Mountains to those in Tropical Rain Forests, Buddha, Christ, Allah, Mother Earth; the various relatively isolated human populations developed ("moral code") that made the majority of people, more fit in that particular environment. We only need to look at the striking similarities in the message and overall goal of various religions and in the "new kid on the block"(in terms of human systems) that we call Science. We must use varying combinations of emotion, moral and logic based on the audience. The challenges that face our species demands that we learn to see the relationship of all mind stratgies(adaptations), which will require "a lot of energy" on our part. Respectfully, Micah ________________________________ From: James Crants <jcra...@gmail.com> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Wed, May 19, 2010 9:36:30 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science and Religion Dogmatic conflict? I, too, appreciate Jane's contribution to this conversation. We can only speculate on the origins of religion, since religion originated long before written language, or even cave art (if neanderthal and modern human religion have a common origin; though I will agree with William Silvert that religion probably didn't come about because any gods revealed their existence to our ancestors). However, science can say something about what goes on in the brain when people have religious experiences, and perhaps it can say something about why some people seem to need religion while others couldn't be religious if they wanted to. It can tell us how similar the experience of meditation is to the experience of prayer, or getting mentally absorbed in an anthill, or drawing, or playing an instrument, or driving a car, and so on. Based on a biological understanding of religious experience, plus the archeological evidence, we can form models of how religion originated and evolved in modern humans, and how it is relevant to modern life. I do think the "naturalist's trance" is basically the same as a religious experience. I don't know of any hard evidence bearing on that, but the experience is similar to those I've had from meditation, intense prayer, playing music, painting pictures, and running much further than a mile or so. Such experiences say nothing at all about whether there is such a thing as divinity, but I think they have a lot to do with the origins of humanity's belief in divinity. Jim Crants On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 8:55 PM, Wayne Tyson <landr...@cox.net> wrote: > Ah-HA! > > I think she's GOT IT! By Jove, I think she's got it! The rain in Spain . . > . > > Eureka! Peak experiences! > > As in all art, the concentration of the intellect somehow gets "processed" > by our inner resources, and "breaks through" back into the conscious after a > period of gestation and there is a birth of insight. Burning bushes and > other hallucinations aside, just about all scientific discovery is thus > produced. > > WT > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Shevtsov" <jane....@gmail.com> > > To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> > Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 7:48 PM > > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science and Religion Dogmatic conflict? > > > I think it's a mistake to reduce religion to >> anthropomorphism/explanations and morality/politics. There is a >> crucial third element -- the human capacity for spiritual (meditative, >> oceanic, transcendent, pick your favorite adjective) experiences. >> These experiences are now being studied by psychologists and >> neuroscientists (look up "neurotheology") and are often connected to >> experiences in nature. >> >> My hypothesis about the origins of such experiences is partially >> inspired by a passage from E.O. Wilson's book _Biophilia_. "In a twist >> my mind came free and I was aware of the hard workings of the natural >> world beyond the periphery of ordinary attention, where passions lose >> their meaning and history is in another dimension, without people, and >> great events pass without record or judgment. I was a transient of no >> consequence in this familiar yet deeply alien world that I had come to >> love. The uncounted products of evolution were gathered there for >> purposes having nothing to do with me; their long Cenozoic history was >> enciphered into a genetic code I could not understand. The effect was >> strangely calming. Breathing and heartbeat diminished, concentration >> intensified. It seemed to me that something extraordinary in the >> forest was very close to where I stood, moving to the surface and >> discovery. ... I willed animals to materialize and they came >> erratically into view." >> >> What does this passage, which describes an experience I suspect most >> members of this list have had, most resemble? It sounds a lot like how >> practitioners of some types of meditation describe their experience. >> But what is this "naturalist's trance" good for, other than science? >> Hunting, gathering and looking out for predators! Maybe, just maybe, >> this was our ancestors' normal state of consciousness and maybe >> various religious and spiritual practices arose as a way of >> recapturing this state as, for biological and social reasons, our >> minds changed. >> >> This is, of course, a guess, but what do you folks think? >> >> Jane Shevtsov >> >> >> >>