[Dialogue] The Assault on Reason

[Karl Hess]

If you ignore some basic human reality in the name of the ideology of 
reason.  50% of Americans STILL believe Saddam Hussein was behind the 
attack on the World Trade Center.  Ask a political scientist about 
this and they say ideology trumps facts every time.

There is a fascinating book in the arena of neurotheology, "Why we 
believe what we believe", by Newberg and Waldman.  Part of their 
study is doing functional MRI's on people meditating, for example. 
Human societies which worshipped deities of some sort are the only 
kind which have survived to historical time, so there seems to be 
some critical biological functional basis to religion/mystery, or 
whatever.  Toward the end of the book he gives 27 ways our Brain 
Distorts Reality.  These are all well-documented.  We seem to be 
well-equipped to survive in the jungle, but global society seems to 
me to be beyond our capabilities.   It is 2 1/2 pp long and probably 
should not be on the list.  Anyone who wants is can email me off list 
and I'll be happy to send it.

Karl Hess

>Bob and I have been reading Gore's book, "The Assault on Reason" . 
>It an excellent dissection of why logic, reason and data are not 
>utilized in making major decisions by the U.S. Government.  Every 
>chapter is a powerhouse and I can hardly put it down.
>
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