Gregory Ganssle - How Belief Systems Affect Believers - Closer to Truth's

[citizenschallengev4]

I know the old timers can say, oh poop, not Cc’s song and dance again. How well, tough. You know what they say, practice, practice, practice. That’s what this is about.

I’ve listened to Robert Kuhn’s YouTube interviews on and off for a while, lately he’s had a run of interviews that I found interesting and somewhat relatable, more so than the physicist-philosopher superstars with their airs, laser focus on the tiniest of the tiny and inability to relate to real human living beings.

Why do people believe the things they do? We like to think that we are rational, that what we believe is true. But often we come to our beliefs, unknowingly, as a product of our particular ‘belief systems’. How do belief systems work their credulous magic? What principles enable belief systems to influence individuals and commandeer groups?

Closer to Truth’s
Gregory Ganssle - How Belief Systems Affect Believers

Greg Ganssle is a Senior Fellow at the Rivendell Institute and lectures in the Department of Philosophy at Yale University. His work explores the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary scholarship.

My response to some of things Kuhn went on to say and question.

4:00 ++ (5:00) excellent. Beyond that: dear Robert Kuhn, I believe a lot of the general confusion comes from not having stopped to recognize, let alone appreciate, the Physical Reality ~ Human Mindscape divide.

As for God, recognizing that God is a product of our human mindscape, goes a long way to resolving all these supposed conflicts you keep wrestling with. God’s are plenty real, but they are the product of our individual and collective minds, not the universe! Once we viscerally understand, and believe and appreciate that we are evolved biological creatures, the contrived arguments fall away.

Once we appreciate our evolved biological creature nature with it’s direct roots going back though over six-hundred thousands of years worth of evolution. We learn that creatures are perceptual instruments, not just major sense organs, but the entire body, which is in turn physically connected to my brain, it all works together in concert to perceive the world, to be aware, in order to act. That’s been the prime mover of evolution since forever.

As Dr Solms and others point out, consciousness is the inside reflection of the conversation your body is having with itself, as it’s dealing with itself and world. Consciousness is not a thing - consciousness is an interaction.

{Our modern human consciousness is the cherry on top of Earth’s consciousness sundae.}
Don’t worry still many more humanity related mysteries to solve once we finally resolve the fundamentals…

Greg Ganssle fascinating guest.

( fyi. Citizenshallenge blogspot 2022/06 philosophical-perspective-earth-centrism )

[lausten]

@citizenschallengev4

Once we viscerally understand, and believe and appreciate that we are evolved biological creatures, the contrived arguments fall away.

Do they though? Evolution is hard to ignore, but people keep believing. How do you measure this “visceral”? That seems to fit with the underlying feelings he’s talking about, your lived experience.

[citizenschallengev4]

@lausten

@citizenschallengev4

Once we viscerally understand, and believe and appreciate that we are evolved biological creatures, the contrived arguments fall away.

Do they though?

Well, yes they do.
If it weren’t so today’s Theory of Consciousness would have gotten turned totally inside out.

It’s the difference between:

I THINK, therefore I am !

vs.

I AM, therefore I think !

I’m talking about a deep down daily appreciation (visceral) of how Evolution reaches into our daily lives and world - speaking only from my experience, it has been very rare indeed.

The superficial understanding of Evolution is obvious in how often consciousness is talked about as something our human mind is doing, giving no thought into the layers of consciousness that reside within this physical body your mind inhabits. Simply labeling that unconscious hemostasis and calling it good won’t due - especially considering its connection to emotions.

That our mind is the product of Brain/Body, seems a no brainer, yet, yet, …

Before talking about human consciousness, we need to deep down realize that some 600 million years ago the first biologically complex creatures were imbued with a drive* towards better perception of the outside world;
Better processing of the information being absorbed through the entire body, not just main sensing organs;
Better command/control of manipulatory hardware (bodies and appendages).

*It’s nature’s relentless pursuit of that imperative that’s resulted in us.

Awareness led to consciousness.
Human Consciousness is not just driven by our brain being fed by sensing organs, but the entire body processing its interaction with its inside world along with the outside world, (something I like to think Dennett’s Pandemonium notion anticipates …).

The evolutionary perspective makes it plain that Conscious v. Unconsciousness isn’t as simple and clearcut as first impressions allowed humans to believe, (especially the “unconsciousness realm” that’s barely been plumbed).

As for visceral, yes that’s the term worth using to indicate that an understanding has permeated between superficial understanding and that interior light switching on with a “WHY OF COURSE” that resonates through and through.

Human consciousness is the cherry on top of Earth’s Consciousness Sundae.