[ExI] Tolerance

[Brent Neal]

On 7 Dec, 2009, at 19:39, Damien Broderick wrote:

> In practical terms, one must surely regard many mistaken ideas as  
> entirely ridiculous (thetan infestation via Xenu bombing, say), and  
> then one casts about for an explanation of how people could devote  
> their lives and wealth to such preposterous ideas. It is  
> understandable that one might conclude that such people, *in regard  
> to that part of their thinking at any rate*, are indeed  
> operationally stupid. But one doesn't get far in changing their  
> opinions by baldly announcing this diagnosis--which is often wrong  
> anyway. My dear wife tells me that Jesuits are obviously stupid (if  
> they are not dissembling rogues), because they apparently believe  
> such incredible bullshit. I try to convince her that, to the  
> contrary, most Jesuits are smart as whips, and apply their keen  
> minds to this bullshit with powerful intellects and expertise.

I think you're stating, with a lot more eloquence, the point I was  
trying to make. :)

But I also think that while there are some ideas that are clearly  
false (the existence of thetans, or the Heavenly Host, e.g.), there  
are ideas that are not as obviously false. I fully expect that at  
sometime in the far future, our descendants will be laughing at our  
"juvenlie superstitions" (to quote Dawkins) about synthetic biology  
and string theory. :)

B


--
Brent Neal, Ph.D.
http://brentn.freeshell.org
<brentn at freeshell.org>