"Why People Believe Invisible Agents Control the World"

[Orphia Nay]

New from Michael Shermer at Scientific American.

An excerpt:

The problem is that we did not evolve a baloney-detection device in our brains to discriminate between true and false patterns. So we make two types of errors: a type I error, or false positive, is believing a pattern is real when it is not; a type II error, or false negative, is not believing a pattern is real when it is. If you believe that the rustle in the grass is a dangerous predator when it is just the wind (a type I error), you are more likely to survive than if you believe that the rustle in the grass is just the wind when it is a dangerous predator (a type II error). Because the cost of making a type I error is less than the cost of making a type II error and because there is no time for careful deliberation between patternicities in the split-second world of predator-prey interactions, natural selection would have favored those animals most likely to assume that all patterns are real.

[...]

Agenticity carries us far beyond the spirit world. The Intelligent Designer is said to be an invisible agent who created life from the top down. Aliens are often portrayed as powerful beings coming down from on high to warn us of our impending self-destruction. Conspiracy theories predictably include hidden agents at work behind the scenes, puppet masters pulling political and economic strings as we dance to the tune of the Bilderbergers, the Roth*schilds, the Rockefellers or the Illuminati. Even the belief that government can impose top-down measures to rescue the economy is a form of agenticity, with President Barack Obama being touted as “the one” with almost messianic powers who will save us.

So, as skeptics, we're going against evolution. Or maybe we're part of the future of evolution.

He references a 2009 book, "SuperSense", by Bruce Hood, which sounds well worth reading.

 

[Brattus]

I already knew why. I just couldn't say anything because The Man wouldn't like it!

 

[athon]

I'm reading Supersense right now. And yes, an exceptionally good read.

It's not out here yet...I managed to get a sneak preview copy. But well worth getting for the collection.

Athon

 

[catbasket]

I already knew why. I just couldn't say anything because The Man wouldn't like it!

Are you implying that The Man is The Man? I knew there were some pretty influential folk amongst JREF forum members, but to have the actual ruler of the world here ... Wow!

 

[Orphia Nay]

I already knew why. I just couldn't say anything because The Man wouldn't like it!

Are you implying that The Man is The Man? I knew there were some pretty influential folk amongst JREF forum members, but to have the actual ruler of the world here ... Wow!

What what what? Our The Man?

I'm reading Supersense right now. And yes, an exceptionally good read.

It's not out here yet...I managed to get a sneak preview copy. But well worth getting for the collection.

Athon

Lucky you! It's on my shortlist!

 

[Dr Adequate]

I'm not sure that the government counts as invisible. President Obama definitely isn't invisible, I've seen photographs of him. And I'm fairly sure that, insofar as anyone does, governments do run the world, that's what they're paid for.

 

[JihadJane]

'As I was going up the stair,
I met a man, who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
Oh, how I wish he'd go away.



























by Edward Lear (?)

 

[Brattus]

Are you implying that The Man is The Man? I knew there were some pretty influential folk amongst JREF forum members, but to have the actual ruler of the world here ... Wow!

I would imply that but once again the whole The Man thing.

 

[jakesteele]

New from Michael Shermer at Scientific American.

An excerpt:



So, as skeptics, we're going against evolution. Or maybe we're part of the future of evolution.


He references a 2009 book, "SuperSense", by Bruce Hood, which sounds well worth reading.

Here's something that fits right in with the topic. It is something innate in all people, woo woo and skeptics included.

Cognitive Closure can refer to:

* Cognitive closure (psychology), a term describing the human desire to eliminate ambiguity and arrive at definite conclusions (sometimes irrationally).
* Cognitive closure (philosophy), the idea that only certain things are even in principle understandable by beings like us. Used particularly to argue for the insolubility of certain problems in philosophy of mind.


Illusory superiority (also known as Superiority bias) is a cognitive bias in which people overestimate the degree to which they possess desirable qualities, relative to others, or underestimate their negative qualities relative to others.


Illusory immunity to bias
Main article: Bias blind spot

Subjects describe themselves in positive terms compared to other people, and this includes describing themselves as less susceptible to bias than other people. This effect is called the Bias blind spot and has been demonstrated independently.

 

[Pup]

New from Michael Shermer at Scientific American.

An excerpt:

natural selection would have favored those animals most likely to assume that all patterns are real.

[...]

Agenticity carries us far beyond the spirit world. The Intelligent Designer is said to be an invisible agent who created life from the top down. Aliens are often portrayed as powerful beings coming down from on high to warn us of our impending self-destruction. Conspiracy theories predictably include hidden agents at work behind the scenes,

Surely the first sentence in the quote above is an exaggeration? One can see an obsession with patterns in some forms of mental illness, where functioning is actually lowered, because so much time is spent focussing on and reacting to perceived patterns that aren't really patterns.

I'd say natural selection would favor those animals who perceive more false positives than false negatives, but not to the point that they assume every breeze in the grass is an approaching preditor and are therefore too worried about the waving grass to bother eating or mating.

Another benefit to believing in invisible agency is that it gives one a sense of control rather than helplessness. If one believes that, I dunno, pick a conspiracy--9/11 was caused by our own government, for example--then that means we're not really vulnerable to random attacks by foreigners. Or that the joos control the world economy, then that means poverty and economic collapse are preventable, and if we could only get the joos to take it easy on us, our problems would be solved. Or that chemtrails cause all those vague ill health symptoms--if only we could get the evil gub'mint to stop dusting us with chemtrails, our health problems would go away.

Deliberately evil actions are at least potentially controllable; random negative occurances aren't.

 

[The Man]

I already knew why. I just couldn't say anything because The Man wouldn't like it!

Indeed, don't make us put a hurt’n on you again.

“They say this cat The Man is a bad mother
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm talkin' 'bout The Man.
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!”

Are you implying that The Man is The Man? I knew there were some pretty influential folk amongst JREF forum members, but to have the actual ruler of the world here ... Wow!

Just a minion, I won’t get to even ‘sub-ruler’ status until I get some more demerit badges. I’ve been working on my ‘suppress the truth’ and ‘disinformation’ badges lately, but the ‘subverting a government’ badge is always the one to go for and the hardest to get. Just because there are so few governments left to subvert.

What what what? Our The Man?



Lucky you! It's on my shortlist!

These days I’m The Man for everyone. They don’t let us play favorites anymore. The whole disinformation, manipulation and psyops economy would become very lopsided. Just like back in the fifties, sixties and into the seventies when we focused on the fear of communism. Then the communism bubble burst, we wound up in manipulation recession and almost a full blown disinformation depression. Now when things are slow they make us enslave, torture, kill and just generally mess with each other. It is more just busy work though, rather then anything productive, but it does tend to thin out the weaker elements and helps us keep our skills sharp for when things do turn around agian.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

'As I was going up the stair,
I met a man, who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
Oh, how I wish he'd go away.



























by Edward Lear (?)

Was his name Ed Crane, by any chance?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

New from Michael Shermer at Scientific American.

An excerpt:



So, as skeptics, we're going against evolution. Or maybe we're part of the future of evolution.

....

Shermer presented an example that supported his conclusion. But he is assuming selection pressures were dominated by predator and prey scenarios. Humans evolved as predators, not just as prey. And prey have many selection pressures involved in finding food and reproducing, not just pressure to avoid being eaten.

It's an interesting hypothesis, but logic alone is not sufficient to declare it a fact as to why natural brain function evolved to favor seeing causation where only correlation exists. It could be as simple as the fact correlation did equal causation often enough to select said brain pattern.

 

[SlayerofCliffracers]

Because it is most logical and rational explanation for why there is an apparant method to the madness? An explanation for stuff which visible agents alone seemingly cannot account for.