Re: PSYCHOLOGY: Healing Pathological Belief System Addiction
Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Fri, 17 Jan 1997 16:28:38 -0800 (PST)
> > There are lots of dangerous, evil, counterproductive memes floating
> > around in our society, and the fact that even Extropians can fall prey
> > to them is a testament to their tenacity. Let me try to find some:
>
> I'm surprised to hear you using the word "evil" in the context of
> healing counterproductive belief systems.
> my inner geek
Touche! The word does have mystical connotations, doesn't it?
I think it may also make the mistake of implying normative value to
a simple fact of existence. Beliefs are just beliefs. It is our
choices of will that are good/evil, moral/immoral. To the extent
that certain beliefs encourage certain behaviors, they can be
counterproductive or dangerous, but I think you're right that "evil"
is not a good word here.