Human Programming

Thats exactly what happens dude: Distorted Thinking is a term used in cognitive behavioural psychology to indicate the type of thoughts one can have that are not a true reflection of reality.People who suffer from Depression have a particular family of distorted thoughts that primarily revolve around negative assessment of self, future and world.Typically our negative life experience promote this 'negative schema' for interpretating meaning form the world.Ditto for religious people. They interpret the world through a lens of distortion, a distortion that leads to various confirmation biases for their a priori conclusions.Exactly the same in any one who is depressed, anxious, health anxious, ocd, panic disorder, bdm, this list goes on.....We are preprogramed to draw conclusions and if our initial training in critical analysis (as we explore the world as children) is distorted (in this case religious up bringing) it takes conciderable effort or natural apptitude (in critical thinking) to overcome that handicap.

The evidence strongly points to there being no god to have belief in.Even if there was only a tiny amount of evidence that there are no gods, it would trump no eveidence in gods simply because of its existance.

No, no and no again!I'v said this dozens of times on dozens of threads!Belief is a positive action. You chose to believe for some reason. You don't believe because of the lack of reason to believe.There has to be programming to believe in x. There is no need for progamming to not believe in x.

Religion is only a handicap if it interferes with your quality of life, just like ocd or anxiety or depression or panic disoder etc. I'v had patients crying to me in my surgery with just that. People in absolute misery because of what the church has programmed into them.

Point taken.I will change my wording thus:By choose I mean: by using whatever cognitive apparatus that determines the acceptance of concepts as being true or false based on the evidence available.The word choice was a poor choice (sorry ). It was not meant to imply intent, only that that was the action one has taken. In the same way that one does not (as such) choose to support a rugby team.

Quite so.I was using emotionally laden words and should not have.Programming was used in the OP but I completly take your point in this case, Jar.

I'm a cognitive behavioural therapist. Essentially I teach people to reprogram their cognitions to expunge 'cognitive distortions'.One such set of cognitive distortions is the ever popular Catholic Guilt.I can't touch it because I can't tell the patient that she (normally is a lady) can use cbt to alter that specific self referential negative appraisal derived completly (i.e. origenal sin) from her religious conditioning (I'm using the word in its formal use here) because religion is 'hands off' in my line of work.It makes me pretty cross.

Programming is the wrong word I guess. Conditioning (in the technical sense) would be better.If there is no conditioning (having any contact with the religion in question) there is no response (formal religiousity).Formal religiousity in not hard wired. We need external input to act on us before we can (in this case) believe in the xian god.

This is doubly true of scientists with their precious competing theories. Sorry Jar, did you mean to write it this way?If I understand you to mean that any programming can be good or bad depending on the message, I completely agree with you.

My bolding.That sums up religion very nicely. Blindly following some programming and bringing conflict with reality. And the 'true nature' of the program is?Edited by Larni, : No reason given.

Sorry Jar, I guess I'm being a bit dense today.I do see what you mean now: prehaps I should read more carefully in the future .I can't argue with what you said; searching for another question has got to be better in the long run to searching and stopping.

Your example about the sex of the baby is flawed.One knows that the sex is either male or female. The woman in question has a 51% chance of male and 49% chance of female offspring. This is definitly the case.There is empircal evidence to test the sex of a child; a quick ultra sound and Bob's your Uncle.There is no empirical evidence of divinity. It is all programming.

My point is that you believe what you are programmed too, at the exclusion of all else, unless you are programmed with critical thinking.

To be sure, but is it not the case that a religious up bringig includes the teaching of miracles? And that these are defined as something that breaks cause and effect? (I am going somewhere with this, honest).BTW: Try as I might I can't get into 'Chat'. I see a grey square. Any ideas?

Hmm, I have a 5 meg line so thats not it, but I have problems with java on hotmail. Will have to look in to it, thanks for the tip.