On: Even Synthetic Life Forms with a Tiny Genome Can Evolve

[Terr_]

> What's the end goal of the belief

So you will "believe" something is true... based on whether it gets you something that you want?

I really don't think that's how it's supposed to work. In fact in many cases it's called "lying."

You ought to be believing something because it seems to fit the evidence that exists without involving stuff that's absent. Not because it advances your goal or agenda.

> and then what?

And then what... what? Exactly what are you saying ought to be next? In fact, why does anything need to be next?

Suppose you've convinced yourself that you're being pulled down by "gravity", a completely impersonal effect driven by the nature of bulk raw materials... "And then what?"

Is the theory of "Gravity" inferior to the theory of "Earth Is Hugging You From Love", simply because the latter leaves you with residual good feelings or the promise of affection?

[TheMode → Terr_]

I am not a religious, but being happy seems more important than being right. I do not know what battle you are fighting.

[currency → TheMode]

It's a discussion about motivated reasoning. Whether being happy is more important depends on your motive for what you're trying to reason out.

If you're trying to reason out how a biological system works, your emotional context seems orthogonal to achieving a useful conclusion.

[akomtu → Terr_]

If you're a mechanism, which part of you makes a choice to do something vs something else?