Edge.org
To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.
Published on Edge.org (https://www.edge.org)

Home >

2005 : WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT? [1]

In the News [ 17 ] [2]
  |  
Contributors [ 120 ] [3]   |   View All Responses [ 120 ] [4]
[5]
Jonathan Haidt [5]
Social Psychologist; Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, New York University Stern School of Business; Author, The Righteous Mind
Psychologist, University of Virginia

I believe, but cannot prove, that religious experience and practice is generated and structured largely by a few emotions that evolved for other reasons, particularly awe, moral elevation, disgust, and attachment-related emotions. That's not a prediction likely to raise any eyebrows in this forum.

But I further believe (and cannot prove) that hostility toward religion is an obstacle to progress in psychology. Most human beings live in a world full of magic, miracles, saints, and constant commerce with divinity. Psychology at present has little to say about these parts of life; we focus instead on a small set of topics that are fashionable, or that are particularly tractable with our favorite methods. If psychologists took religious experience seriously and tried to understand it from the inside, as anthropologists do with other cultures, I believe it would enrich our science. I have found religious texts and testimonials about purity and pollution essential for understanding the emotion of disgust.

Return to Table of Contents [3]
  • John Brockman, Editor and Publisher
  • Russell Weinberger, Associate Publisher
  • Nina Stegeman, Associate Editor
 
  • Contact Info:[email protected]
  • In the News
  • Get Edge.org by email
 
Edge.org is a nonprofit private operating foundation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Copyright © 2019 By Edge Foundation, Inc All Rights Reserved.

 


Links:
[1] https://www.edge.org/annual-question/what-do-you-believe-is-true-even-though-you-cannot-prove-it
[2] https://www.edge.org/inthenews/what-do-you-believe-is-true-even-though-you-cannot-prove-it
[3] https://www.edge.org/contributors/what-do-you-believe-is-true-even-though-you-cannot-prove-it
[4] https://www.edge.org/responses/what-do-you-believe-is-true-even-though-you-cannot-prove-it
[5] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/jonathan_haidt