RE: virus: pale religious lechery

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Tue, 9 Mar 1999 10:22:15 -0800

That would be great. I use Level 2 for the first set of beliefs and Level 3 for the second.

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/ Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme" http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm Free newsletter! Visit Meme Central at
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf Of David McFadzean
Sent: Tuesday, March 9, 1999 9:05 AM
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: RE: virus: pale religious lechery

At 02:48 PM 3/8/99 -0800, Richard Brodie wrote:

>Well, it's pragmatic value, for one. Cognitive psychology is based on the
>model that beliefs direct behavior. By cataloguing a person's beliefs one
>can attempt to adjust them, eliminating ones that cause undesired behavior.
>As an example, here are some faith-based positions widely held to be
useful:
>
>* I am accountable for everything that happens to me
>* Things will get better
>* I can handle it

I think I've come up with (or been infected by) a solution that could end the War (how often does that happen?).

What if... we introduced two new terms to replace "believe", one to mean "I believe because I think it is true" and one to mean "I believe because I think the effects are beneficial"?

I believe (because I think it is true) that enlightened infidels would have no problem with the faithful espousing their beliefs if they used the "effects are beneficial" term.

Comments?

--
David McFadzean                 david@lucifer.com
Memetic Engineer                http://www.lucifer.com/~david/
Church of Virus                 http://www.lucifer.com/virus/