Can we trust what we think?
(Beyond Ourselves #34)
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If naturalism is true – if the physical world is all there is – what we think is just the result of chemical reactions and electric currents in our brains. In which case, there is no reason to trust it.
Is there any reason to think that nature has given us beliefs that are false?
Yes, there is! If naturalism is true, there are two huge areas where nature has given us false beliefs:
- People have always believed that some things are really right, and others are really wrong - there are moral facts. But if the physical world is all there is this belief is a huge mistake.
- Nature has given us false beliefs about the existence of God and of life after death. People have always had some kind of belief in a supernatural world. But if the physical world is all there is this is another huge mistake.
So if we are just atoms and molecules, in two tremendously important areas that affect our lives every day, nature has given us false beliefs.
But if this is true, what reason do we have to trust our thinking at all? If we cannot trust what we are programmed to believe, what reason do we have to think that naturalism itself is true?
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