Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
Isnt there a lot of research which states that human pattern recognition is an overactive thing which often has problems seeing pattern when there isn't any there?Surlethe wrote:IQ tests measure pattern recognition, not necessarily general intelligence, don't they? It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that pattern recognition abilities are correlated with atheism.
Very true. The ability to recignize patterns well disrupts religious dogma because of conflicting data. The ability to do it instinctively makes you feel mentally off-balance as you try to read the Bible.Surlethe wrote:IQ tests measure pattern recognition, not necessarily general intelligence, don't they? It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that pattern recognition abilities are correlated with atheism.
Not exactly... Pattern recognition specifically the tendency to ascribe agency to a pattern, evolved to allow us to do a few things, one of which was to find and obtain food, the other was avoid becoming food. Assigning agency would have been selected for, and in addition to allowing us to detect patterns that are not there, this same mechanism allows us to assign agency which is not there.Xon wrote:Isnt there a lot of research which states that human pattern recognition is an overactive thing which often has problems seeing pattern when there isn't any there?Surlethe wrote:IQ tests measure pattern recognition, not necessarily general intelligence, don't they? It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that pattern recognition abilities are correlated with atheism.
Better pattern recognition abilities basicly amounts to training on how to apply pattern recognition in a structured way.
Both my parents were raised Southern Baptist. My dad's a geologist and my mother has a bachelors in Medical Technology.Darth Wong wrote:I personally have a strong suspicion that better-educated Christians also inadvertently tend to produce less religious offspring, because they're the ones who are likely to encourage their children to ask tough questions.
I've caught myself talking to the ducks that frequent my yard for food. I will routinely tell "Faceplant" (so named because one day she saw me outside, flew at me missing by inches, and slammed face first into my Dodge at about 15 mph) that "I've got no more food left, you ate it all," half expecting a response.Alyrium Denryle wrote:Not exactly... Pattern recognition specifically the tendency to ascribe agency to a pattern, evolved to allow us to do a few things, one of which was to find and obtain food, the other was avoid becoming food. Assigning agency would have been selected for, and in addition to allowing us to detect patterns that are not there, this same mechanism allows us to assign agency which is not there.
This for example, is the real reason we personify natural events, talk to animals like ducks as if they were people, etc.
Why yes. Yes I do.Do you have any reading on this? I'd like to know more.
A very *very* clear situation in which this occurs is the 'Monte Carlo Fallacy' also known as "Gambler's Fallacy". It occurs when, during a series of independent trials, a person begins to see a pattern emerge which in reality is not really there.*snip* and in addition to allowing us to detect patterns that are not there, this same mechanism allows us to assign agency which is not there.
That's pretty telling about their mindset: they expect people to blindly believe what other people tell them, because that's what they do. It seems to be beyond them to understand that someone can learn something by themselves.CaptJodan wrote:No surprise here. It's why my grandparents are so suspicious of higher education. Prior to my getting a clue, they kept asking if the university was teaching me not to believe in god. I'm sure they blame higher education now.
In a way, they're not wrong. A proper education, coupled with the social experience does make you question a lot of the assumptions you have. Maybe not enough to go all out and question everything you believe, but enough to lay groundwork for a possible change of perspective.Elaro wrote: That's pretty telling about their mindset: they expect people to blindly believe what other people tell them, because that's what they do. It seems to be beyond them to understand that someone can learn something by themselves.
