I’m generally sympathetic to the pragmatic benefit over “scientism” (i.e., ignoring actual empirical effects based on what simply must or couldn’t be the case) view. (In fact, I plan to post a little piece on that matter shortly.) I’m a fan of the so-called “tetris effect” of learning how to be happy by doing/noticing.
I make a distinction in the case of theism/atheism for two reasons, though. First, not to put to fine a point on it, theism is too wacky/undefined. Religious people tend not to really have any idea what the hell they are asserting when they say they believe in God or providence or whatever. An “omnipresent force,” “a benevolent watcher,” karma, Jesus, Jesus’s old man, Vishnu, the tao, a first cause—who the hell knows what they are talking about. Second, I think you can get the same psychological benefit (which I don’t doubt) without any of the cloud cuckoo land.
What used to be called “positive psychology” got a bad name around the time of Freud because it became increasingly clear that it in’t as successful at helping people with serious mental problems (“hysteria”) as drugs, the talking cure, shock therapy, etc. What it is good at is increasing (a bit) the the quotient of general happiness in the practicer. And the thing is, religious practice isn’t so hot at fixing psychosis either. They’re about on a par. But utilizing the “tetris effect” doesn’t require one to believe anything...well...stupid. It’s just a practice, like meditation, that makes one feel better.
In sum, my feeling is that there’s no harm in getting these benefits—even if they’re something of a Pollyanna/placebo thing. But all else equal, if you can get such benefit without the use of bronze age fairy tales, that’s the route that makes more sense. If your hypothetical were adjusted slightly to insist that there is no other way to receive the longevity and happiness provided by “theism” (whatever that is, exactly), I might revise my answer. But I think I’d still want to know precisely what bilge I’d have to swallow to get this increase in utility.
I’m a newbie.
I’m generally sympathetic to the pragmatic benefit over “scientism” (i.e., ignoring actual empirical effects based on what simply must or couldn’t be the case) view. (In fact, I plan to post a little piece on that matter shortly.) I’m a fan of the so-called “tetris effect” of learning how to be happy by doing/noticing.
I make a distinction in the case of theism/atheism for two reasons, though. First, not to put to fine a point on it, theism is too wacky/undefined. Religious people tend not to really have any idea what the hell they are asserting when they say they believe in God or providence or whatever. An “omnipresent force,” “a benevolent watcher,” karma, Jesus, Jesus’s old man, Vishnu, the tao, a first cause—who the hell knows what they are talking about. Second, I think you can get the same psychological benefit (which I don’t doubt) without any of the cloud cuckoo land.
What used to be called “positive psychology” got a bad name around the time of Freud because it became increasingly clear that it in’t as successful at helping people with serious mental problems (“hysteria”) as drugs, the talking cure, shock therapy, etc. What it is good at is increasing (a bit) the the quotient of general happiness in the practicer. And the thing is, religious practice isn’t so hot at fixing psychosis either. They’re about on a par. But utilizing the “tetris effect” doesn’t require one to believe anything...well...stupid. It’s just a practice, like meditation, that makes one feel better.
In sum, my feeling is that there’s no harm in getting these benefits—even if they’re something of a Pollyanna/placebo thing. But all else equal, if you can get such benefit without the use of bronze age fairy tales, that’s the route that makes more sense. If your hypothetical were adjusted slightly to insist that there is no other way to receive the longevity and happiness provided by “theism” (whatever that is, exactly), I might revise my answer. But I think I’d still want to know precisely what bilge I’d have to swallow to get this increase in utility.
W