The “truth” of an idea may have value based on the evolutionary utility of the idea, such that something that is objectively false can be “metaphorically true” to the extent that it allows a population to survive or be (more) successful. The argument is that it is essentially better to believe something false, if it makes you more successful than believing something true would have.
A belief may be factually wrong, but if you behave as if it were correct, you would have come out ahead than where you would be, if you had behave according to the fact that it were false. These types of metaphorical truths would generally contain a kind of wisdom that would be useful.
Example: If you believed that a porcupine could throw its quills, you actually had an advantage over somebody who know that a porcupine can’t throw its quills. (Because a porcupine can wheel around quicker than you think, and porcupine quills are very dangerous…)
This is the core of what makes / has made religion so effective that it dominates the belief structure of human population on this planet over centuries.
Metaphorically true (but literally/factually false) belief systems have to be given their “due” because they provide(d) an advantage. Such systems of belief have served the people that hold them. Of course these belief systems evolve and may eventually run their course; but their inherent value is served in the time being.
56:20 on Episode #109 Biology & Culture
w/ Sam Harris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ku1H4VzfQ
Category: Philosophy
Bret Weinstein © 2017
December 22, 2017
State of Being 