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**Stetbrate** · 07-17-2011, 11:18 PM

I love it when folks who are stuck in the cesspool of superstition try to paint folks who reject superstition as being stuck in the same sort of cesspool. It lets me know that they know that being stuck in a cesspool of superstition is a Bad Thing.

You're missing my point. I'm not saying that reason and superstitition are equivalent, that they are "the same sort of cesspool", that we shouldn't investigate or come to rational conclusions, or that we shouldn't expose the errors in superstitious thinking. I agree with most of the points made in the video you posted.

But ultimately rationalism is also a box, even if it's a better and bigger one. The act of rejection amounts to setting up the walls of the box -- certain things (the scientific method, Cartesian logic) go in the box, certain other things (religion, mythology) are kept out. One then fights to make sure they are kept out (through polemic) while reinforcing what's inside through peer selection and choice of reading material (the echo chamber effect).

So, yes, it does become a matter of reinforcing predispositions -- even if they are better predispositions. At worst, it can turn into ideology, and we should always be wary of ideologies -- even, perhaps especially, "superior" ones.

07-17-2011, 11:18 PM	#23
Stetbrate Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 489 Senior Member	I love it when folks who are stuck in the cesspool of superstition try to paint folks who reject superstition as being stuck in the same sort of cesspool. It lets me know that they know that being stuck in a cesspool of superstition is a Bad Thing. You're missing my point. I'm not saying that reason and superstitition are equivalent, that they are "the same sort of cesspool", that we shouldn't investigate or come to rational conclusions, or that we shouldn't expose the errors in superstitious thinking. I agree with most of the points made in the video you posted. But ultimately rationalism is also a box, even if it's a better and bigger one. The act of rejection amounts to setting up the walls of the box -- certain things (the scientific method, Cartesian logic) go in the box, certain other things (religion, mythology) are kept out. One then fights to make sure they are kept out (through polemic) while reinforcing what's inside through peer selection and choice of reading material (the echo chamber effect). So, yes, it does become a matter of reinforcing predispositions -- even if they are better predispositions. At worst, it can turn into ideology, and we should always be wary of ideologies -- even, perhaps especially, "superior" ones.
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