Is God the Biosphere? - 5 - Superstition

It is no secret that the various tribes and bubbles of our world have wildly differing beliefs about things. Why can't people just accept the truth? But the truth is so contentious. And framing is so contentious. And all these people seem to have the most outlandish superstitions.An abiding feature of these podcasts, as we've highlighted many times, is this thing called Systems Thinking, and while this is a broad enough discipline to be fairly tribal in its own right, one key feature of this Systems Thinking is thinking about your thinking.In this episode we review some of the things in normal western life that have the character of superstition, and explore to what extent our innate capacity for gullibility and naïvity might be used to our advantage, in evolving a more constructive mindset; in connecting better with Nature, and specifically in nurturing the health of our habitat.Talking Points:An experience with a palm readerThe power of belief and ritual in performanceListener comments - a bishop, a yogi, and a reflection on who we areSome superstitions - recognisable, and hiddenLike Science - eg impact of false HRT Study warning cancerTo what extent are your superstitions working for you?Heuristics and humility regarding knowledgeGood and bad fairy-talesWhat you do and what you think about itWhatever gets you through the nightWe all need superstitionsFaith as an alternative to cynicismFaith in your own human systemFaith in our project of a viable habitatThe Good Place - it's impossible to be "Good"The system is fundamentally badThe challenge is bigger than all of usAnd that is why we need faith in a higher power to sustain usLinks:Fundamentalism as a superstition about text:https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/armstrong-battle.html?_r=1&oref=sloginOn the placebo effect:https://www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effectOn a scientific Truth that turned out to be untrue - HRT and cancer - https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/cancer-clinical-archive/study-linking-hrt-to-breast-cancer-was-wrong-26-01-2012/William James (Philosopher and psychologist)On pragmatism:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James#Pragmatism_and_%22cash_value%22On the Variety of Religious Experience (Wikipedia preçis)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James#Philosophy_of_religionTimothy Morton:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Morton#Ecological_theory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.