One of the final statements in my previous lecture was: "No matter no mind, no mind no narrative". It is our mind that creates the story of our life, the explanation of the world we live in and so many more things.
If it is about the existential questions like "Who are we?", "Where did we come from?", "What is the meaning of our existence?, "Is there an ultimate goal in life?", we use our mind to formulate answers.
What tools do we have to deal with such questions, I guess just two: on the one hand we can believe, and uphold a faith, on the other hand, we have our ratio, our reason, and our rationality.
According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, or ultimate concerns.
People tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature. In other words, religion and faith deliver an attractive narrative for people.
That this attitude is so deeply embedded in mankind may be, because it has provided evolutionary an increase in our ability to survive and reproduce.
If you don't know what lightning is, the belief that it is a sign of a god, which you can please with sacrifices, you don't live in fear When you are afraid of the future, you can live in peace when you believe that there always is an angel at your side to protect you.
However, you also may learn that lightning is an electrical discharge caused by atmospheric conditions and that you can protect yourself against it in different ways. That is when you stick to the scientific facts about nature.
That attitude is based on rationality. I am not sure if it is the most popular attitude regarding dealing with existential questions, but at least it is a fact-based attitude.
But rationality is a complex and contested concept that has been explored by philosophers, psychologists, economists, and other disciplines.
This means that it is not a concept that has a single reference, some part of the brain for instance, even though we know which parts of the brain often are active when we are rationally active.
One of the most influential definitions of rationality comes from the field of economics, which assumes that rational agents act according to their preferences and beliefs, and maximize their expected utility.
This means that rational agents are consistent, coherent, and efficient in their choices and that they can calculate the probabilities and outcomes of different alternatives.
But that is just a dream of economists. Just look at the behavior in the stock market, the situation that you nowhere can find a single package of toilet paper anymore because of some rumor.
Such behavior is food for psychologists, who study how humans actually think and behave, rather than how they should think and act.
Psychological rationality is more descriptive, empirical, and relative, as it depends on the goals, information, and environment of the agent.
What we are more interested in here is a third perspective on rationality, which examines the foundations, criteria, and implications of rationality for various domains of human inquiry, such as logic, ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics.
Philosophical rationality is concerned with the validity, soundness, and justification of arguments, beliefs, and actions, and the norms and principles that guide them.
Philosophical rationality can be seen as both prescriptive and descriptive, as it aims to provide both normative standards and descriptive accounts of rationality for different domains and contexts.
This is the rationality, that we use in the development of knowledge and insights regarding our existence. It is an attitude that has grown in strength through the ages.
From an evolutionary point of view, it is the only tool we have, which will offer us the means and possibilities to survive on this earth in the coming centuries. This is the belief of a materialist.
Thank you for your attention again....
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
24 - Materialism 7 Sept 2022 / 1011
The Discussion
[13:18] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: Thanks, Herman!
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i think i get the entire concept at least somewhat now
[13:19] Lukkie Sands: And what should we do with those 4200 religions and beliefs? regarding our future?
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:20] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman!
[13:20] herman Bergson: Well...religions are a cultural phenomenon....you can't ignore it
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:21] Max Chatnoir: But there does seem to be an increase in people who identify as "nones" .
[13:21] herman Bergson: But whether they are a positive contribution to what we face at th emonebt.....?????
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the issues is they mostly lead to conflicts and war and other irrational behaviopur
[13:21] herman Bergson: Both yes, Max and Bejiita...
[13:22] herman Bergson: But the decline in irrational beliefs is closely related to better education
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): seems logical indeed
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): fact
[13:22] Max Chatnoir: Yes, that definitely helps.
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true
[13:23] herman Bergson: And when for instance a Taliban forbids half of the population (women) to go to school and learn.....we have a problem
[13:23] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): they re afraid of woman
[13:23] Max Chatnoir: Yes. Anti-education for anybody is not a good sign.
[13:24] herman Bergson: And I read that islam is the fastest growing religion in the world atm
[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): based on fear and power?
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (shudders)
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: Is it growing mostly by recruitment or by reproduction?
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they live as if its still middle ages
[13:24] herman Bergson: The reason is that it blooms in Africa and Arabic countries, which show an enormous increase of population
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): shehesh!
[13:25] herman Bergson: reproduction....
[13:25] herman Bergson: Islamic women get 2.9 children while European women hardly reach 2.1
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed, no women no sex no pleasure no music ect all of them regarded as a sin that should be banished
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): what do such horrid ideas come from really?
[13:26] Max Chatnoir: scared men?
[13:26] herman Bergson: And this reproduction rate is in countries with not so good educationl systems
[13:26] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): there are too many people on this earth, when they reproduce more and more...
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): must be something like that, i dont know but what has happened for ex in Afghanistan when taliban regained power made me really sad
[13:27] herman Bergson: The earth doesn't mind Beertje :-)
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): worse now then before even
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Yet we don't hear as much support for zero population growth as we did in the 60s
[13:27] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): true, but are the islamic people feed us all?
[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): they call us christian dogs...so i don't believe they will care for us
[13:28] herman Bergson: Well....let's hope for rationality in such matters
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): unlike islam we dont suicide bomb each other at least
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): even if we have been cruel as cristians for sure but we are better now
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): if they were rational, they won't be islamic
[13:29] herman Bergson: Well that is the point Beertje....
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but still, science fact and ratoinality is my melody and the track i wil follow
[13:30] herman Bergson: History shows that with the improvement of education secularisation increases too...
[13:30] herman Bergson: This proces is also happening in some islamic countries
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Maybe that is why we are seeing so much concern about controlling curricula.
[13:30] herman Bergson: But on a far smaller scale still
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm why is that? should be the other way around
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or idk
[13:31] herman Bergson: Yes Max.... that obsession with sex in the US for instance....
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but fact and science i say is the ONLY way forward for us
[13:31] herman Bergson: Why do people want to control general sexuality?
[13:31] Max Chatnoir: Yes, and history.
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and sex and pleasure is also good for you
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:32] Max Chatnoir: We don't want to know about historical actions that make us look bad.
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): feeling good in general is good and healthy so dont push it down
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): being happy
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): things like that
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its basic drives for us to be happy and feel good, everyone wants that deep inside
[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): woman in islamic countries are not allowed to enjoy their bodies
[13:33] herman Bergson: But there are very different ways to feel good Bejiita....
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed true
[13:33] Max Chatnoir: or their minds, Beertje.
[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yes Max
[13:33] herman Bergson: the suicide bommer feels himself super good when he blows himself up for instance
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes there are many ways but all toward the same goal
[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): let him do that en masse in the dessert
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): sigh, well thats one problem for sure
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): wel i have no idea whats going on in their minds so
[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): they do it for grapes:))
[13:34] herman Bergson: I think that feeling good is not a really good argument....
[13:35] herman Bergson: It is to general
[13:35] herman Bergson: 72 Beertje...delicious
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): 34 too:))
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): 43:)
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well we think different things feel good but in the big whole most of us dont want to find that state by hurting others
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as u said before, mot people are ok
[13:36] herman Bergson: True Bejiita, but yet look at politics, how hard it is to find a majority for something
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guess the main issue is obsession with power over others that some have
[13:37] herman Bergson: They are indeed
[13:37] herman Bergson: So, we still can feel positive about the future
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well hopefully
[13:37] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): how?
[13:37] Max Chatnoir: I hope so.
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): all we can do
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and try make it so
[13:38] herman Bergson: You can start a war, but it can't go on forever....
[13:38] herman Bergson: The forces to stop it are always there
[13:39] herman Bergson: Not the forces to always begin wars
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:39] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i think you can't see the forces to stop if you are in themiddle of a war
[13:39] herman Bergson: IT may take years, but eventually rationality will prevail
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i just hope there will be an end to Putins massacre soon
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well
[13:40] herman Bergson: Doesn't seem to be the intention Bejiita
[13:40] herman Bergson: Putin's existence is defined by waging this war
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:41] herman Bergson: We always need an enemy to distract the attention from the real problems
[13:41] herman Bergson: Liek free press, human rights, democratic institutions, personal freedom.....
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but take him out and some other branwashed by him will probably take over and continue or idk, but i have heard many times that if putin goes it will be even worse cause he have made so many monsters like him already ready to take over after him
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well only the future can tell what will happen
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and i hope it goes in the right direction
[13:43] herman Bergson: Eventually history shows that it does< I'd say
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): lets hope for that
[13:43] Max Chatnoir: But lately it seems to be backing up.
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): evil must not win
[13:44] herman Bergson: I can't predict the future...I just hope that rationality eventually will prevail....
[13:44] bergfrau Apfelbaum: the good will win
[13:45] Max Chatnoir: I hope so too.
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): it has to indeed
[13:45] herman Bergson: Look at Trump...
[13:45] herman Bergson: Many people thought he'll get away with everything
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm it seems it might be over finally
[13:45] Max Chatnoir: I hope that is truly the case.
[13:45] herman Bergson: and now we see that rationality of the law yet prevails
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed, I had so many WHAT THE! moments but in the end seems like the right things and side will make it
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): still amazes me how he was allowed to go on for soo long, as said when i first heard saw and heard him before he became president even i said to myself, lock him into an asylum and throw the key away, that one does NOT belong in White House!
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but US culture is different so
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or whatever its different from how it works here
[13:48] Max Chatnoir: What worries me is that if Trump crashes, all of his followers will find another wacko to support. He hasn't done it all alone.
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but all is not perfect here either
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true Max
[13:49] herman Bergson: Mat Geatz is already warming up
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Trump has also created his monsters
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but hopefully nothing like this will happen again but only time can tell
[13:50] herman Bergson: Well...let's conclude with the hope that homo sapiens keeps on holding on to rationality as THE tool to make progress in this world
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said we can only hope for the best
[13:50] Max Chatnoir: and try to encourage it.
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): exactly, rationality is the main key and resolver
[13:51] herman Bergson: Yes Max...like I try to do in SL :-))
[13:51] Max Chatnoir: yay
[13:51] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): lol
[13:51] herman Bergson: So...thank you all again.....and get ready for the new project
[13:52] herman Bergson: Class dismissed....:-)
[13:52] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)
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