Delusions make the human mind that more amazing

People with either delusions of grandeur or the delusional belief in a God or afterlife should not be frowned upon because mental delusions are just one of the many amazing functions of the human mind. I’m sure many atheists admire the beauty of knowing how things scientifically work and such. Therefore, you should acknowledge the fact that anyone with a delusional belief has a beautiful scientific inner working of their minds and you should not frown upon it and convince them otherwise of their beliefs and such. I realize that atheists value the truth that there is no God and afterlife, but you should also value the fact that any attitude or delusional belief a person has is just something scientifically meant for survival. You should not try to change how things work according to science in this specific situation (which means not trying to change this person’s beliefs). However, when it comes to the beliefs either causing harm to themselves or anyone else, that’s when it’s time to intervene. But other than that, if this person’s belief just simply brings them personal pleasure in life, then it should not be frowned upon at all and should be acknowledged as an amazing function of his/her mind that makes this person that more amazing. I have delusions of grandeur and I don’t have the intention of harming anyone or halting scientific progress.
There are innocent people here just living their own fantasy world not harming others or causing wars and we should just leave these people alone and never tell them the truth of reality as long as they are happy with their fantasies. We should encourage their fantasies to make them even more happy. If your attitude is that we should convince these people otherwise because the more people we have who realize the facts of reality, the more progress we have in science and such, then what if they never wanted to be that way and being that way makes them disappointed and depressed? Not to mention, some people don’t even care about science and supporting it–they are just fine living their own innocent happy lives. Therefore, it’s not worth it at all to tell them the truth of reality just for the possible sake of getting a more few people here and there to support science when the fact is that science is already being well supported by many people.
Edit: Many people think that those who live in a fantasy world are somehow weak or useless to society, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. I am using my “living in a fantasy world" mindset to compose music. Composing music is something that greatly contributes to society (even pieces of music that have fantasy-like emotion to them since even these types of music are honored by many people whether it just be instrumental or even with lyrics and such). The mindset that I wish to live in a fantasy world is very important to me because I use that in composing music that has beautiful fantasy-like emotion to it and such and I do not want anything in reality to interfere with it. Although there are people who do use inspiration from reality and use that to compose music, I am not this type of person at all. I can use my inspiration from fantasy to achieve greatness and success in life just as good (if not better) than those people who do with inspiration from reality. Therefore, this right here says that my personal delusions of grandeur through fantasy will not have negative consequences and are just as good (if not better) than reality itself. Instead, I will be someone great and perhaps very successful in life through being a composer.

However, when it comes to the beliefs either causing harm to themselves or anyone else, that's when it's time to intervene.
Ah, there's the rub. That's the sticky detail. The problem with false beliefs is that they lead to more false beliefs and beliefs of any kind lead to actions and actions have consequences.
However, when it comes to the beliefs either causing harm to themselves or anyone else, that's when it's time to intervene.
Ah, there's the rub. That's the sticky detail. The problem with false beliefs is that they lead to more false beliefs and beliefs of any kind lead to actions and actions have consequences. That's not always the case. It can just be simply one or even a combination of beliefs that this person has that has no such negative consequences and only serves to bring this person personal happiness in life.
However, when it comes to the beliefs either causing harm to themselves or anyone else, that's when it's time to intervene.
Ah, there's the rub. That's the sticky detail. The problem with false beliefs is that they lead to more false beliefs and beliefs of any kind lead to actions and actions have consequences. That's not always the case. It can just be simply one or even a combination of beliefs that this person has that has no such negative consequences and only serves to bring this person personal happiness in life. Yes of course, some people are just fine the way they are, believing unsubstantiated things. I'm not clear which "case" you are saying is "not always". I'm pretty sure all actions have consequences. I'm pretty sure beliefs lead to actions. Also false beliefs can definitely lead to more false beliefs. Not all the time, but that's not the point. You can't know when they will or won't. Witness some of the the mass shootings lately where the shooter was known to have some mental health issues. It would be great if we could predict the future actions of everyone with certainty. But we can't, so we have to generalize about the possible affects of false beliefs.

The problem is that encouraging people’s delusions leads to only 40 percent of U.S. citizens believing in evolution, climate change deniers getting elected to Congress, and irresponsible gun owners blocking effective gun control laws. As Lausten said, beliefs lead to actions and actions have consequences. We need an informed citizenry to survive and thrive.

Many people think that those who live in a fantasy world are somehow weak or useless to society, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. I am using my “living in a fantasy world" mindset to compose music. Composing music is something that greatly contributes to society (even pieces of music that have fantasy-like emotion to them since even these types of music are honored by many people whether it just be instrumental or even with lyrics and such). The mindset that I wish to live in a fantasy world is very important to me because I use that in composing music that has beautiful fantasy-like emotion to it and such and I do not want anything in reality to interfere with it. Although there are people who do use inspiration from reality and use that to compose music, I am not this type of person at all. I can use my inspiration from fantasy to achieve greatness and success in life just as good (if not better) than those people who do with inspiration from reality. Therefore, this right here says that my personal delusions of grandeur through fantasy will not have negative consequences and are just as good (if not better) than reality itself. Instead, I will be someone great and perhaps very successful in life through being a composer.

That’s nice Mozart. I’ve always given artists a little more leeway. Especially if you’re producing something I like. Or even if you are making something others like, everyone’s a critic and everyone knows what they like. I’m more concerned with people like Rick Perry, who is delusional, and the governor of Texas.

The problem with believing in or living in a fantasy world is that it’s insidious. You might start out with some fantasies that seem pretty benign, such as believing in flying saucers. But when you do this you are in danger of never developing a skeptical approach to anything because you will constantly drop the ball. The next thing you know you believe that kids don’t need vaccinations, for example. Or that taking some herbal concoction will cure you of some malady or that you can drive under the influence as well as sober. it’s far too easy to talk youself into believing it’s ok to avoid being skeptical sometimes. You can’t be a true skeptic unless it becomes part of your life–something you do every day, in every situation. Once you start making exceptions and excuses you’re doomed. You also have to learn something about human nature and how humans fool themselves–even you–into believing impossible things. You may think it can’t happen to you, but it will. It’s inevitable. And once you have allowed your mind to make exceptions, it may be impossible to undo the damage. One is either a skeptic or a dupe. You can’t be both. You can’t be just a little bit skeptical and a little bit gullible. If you are a little but gullible, even if you have convinced yourself that you have it all under control, you ARE gullible. Alcoholism is a good parallel. There are millions of people who have convinced themselves that they have it under control, that they know what they’re doing, that they’ll only have this one little drink, that they’ll never drive drunk or abuse or neglect someone, or ruin their own health. Kidding yourself like that is easy and it’s a big problem. Just as you can’t be a little bit of an alcoholic you can"t be a little bit gullible. You need to make skepticism a part of your life, it’s something you need to practice and test yourself on constantly, like an athlete keeping his body in shape. He has to work out every day or he starts to lose ground. It’s the same with skepticism, you have to practice it every day or you will be in danger of slipping into gullibility when you least expect it. And it’s a very steep and slippery slope, indeed.
Lois

Well said, Lois.

However, when it comes to the beliefs either causing harm to themselves or anyone else, that's when it's time to intervene.
Ah, there's the rub. That's the sticky detail. The problem with false beliefs is that they lead to more false beliefs and beliefs of any kind lead to actions and actions have consequences. That's not always the case. It can just be simply one or even a combination of beliefs that this person has that has no such negative consequences and only serves to bring this person personal happiness in life. Yes of course, some people are just fine the way they are, believing unsubstantiated things. I'm not clear which "case" you are saying is "not always". I'm pretty sure all actions have consequences. I'm pretty sure beliefs lead to actions. Also false beliefs can definitely lead to more false beliefs. Not all the time, but that's not the point. You can't know when they will or won't. Witness some of the the mass shootings lately where the shooter was known to have some mental health issues. It would be great if we could predict the future actions of everyone with certainty. But we can't, so we have to generalize about the possible affects of false beliefs. Boy, we almost had a conversation going there.
Well said, Lois.
:-)

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw

You're Just Jealous Because the Voices Aren't Talking To YOU

But, it is sort of an interesting point
when you think about all the FaithBased God Fearing folks out there,
it’s obvious that disconnecting from real happening and sinking back into a Delusion world
behind the protective cover of routine and acceptance works for way too many.
Although considering some of the gross errors and sins committed by our Faith Based leaders
and the directions they are leading society these past decades -
it’s obviously not doing humanity, our planet, or the future much good.
But dream on, you got the masses and the power, let the faithful finish the mess religion started.
Lordie knows rationalist won’t do anything about it.