From: "Billy Brown" <bbrown@conemsco.com> To: <extropians@extropy.com> Subject: RE: Any strong belief is a chain. Date sent: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 08:02:09 -0600 Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
> Joe E. Dees wrote:
> > Isn't
> > there a self-contradiction lurking somewhere when one presents as
> > an article of belief that one should believe nothing (whether you
> > append 'except this' or 'including this')? It appears rather
> > Zen/Tao/guruish to me... Joe
>
> No, its the exact opposite. What it boils down to is this:
>
> 1) There is an objective reality.
> 2) Believing something doesn't make it true.
> 3) If your belief disagrees with reality, reality wins.
>
> If you agree with these statements, it should be obvious that the ideal
> survival strategy is to make sure that your opinions are always in agreement
> with your information about reality. Believing something despite contrary
> evidence is a bad habit - it is a device for hiding from the world, rather
> than coping with it.
>
The statement said nothing about evidence or reality. As A.J.
Greimas observed (in his book ON MEANING), the only difference
between belief and knowledge is the presence or absence of
evidence; the cognitive states underlying them are indistinguishable.
What was expressed was a statement of universal scepticism or
doubt, even in the face of evidence. Joe
> Billy Brown, MCSE+I
> bbrown@conemsco.com
>