logic, religion and tenure

Fascinating post on Scott's shtetl-optimized on logical inference, religion and the parsimony of evolutionary optimised reasoning

Read the whole thing.

There is always a worry that scientific rationalism is a darwinian dead-end, in that it is suboptimal for reproductive fitness, and Scott touches on that. Mathematics, beyond basic arithmetic, may be a peacock feather in the long run. Or not, the fitness landscape changes and memes, not just genes, compete.
We don't just reproduce, we convert...

More important is the cognitive dissonance: Scott thinks prevention of suffering is a good basis for morality and he is applying for tenure track jobs!
Aargh.

No, wait, we agreed not to do that.
Yeah, go for it Scott...

h/t Chad

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