tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post3326323754541405797..comments2024-02-28T02:22:20.886-08:00Comments on homunculus: Morals don't come from GodPhilip Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986655706443117158noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-63659897027465172642010-09-08T14:44:43.162-07:002010-09-08T14:44:43.162-07:00Since Hauser has now been shown to be a scientific...Since Hauser has now been shown to be a scientific fraud, it seems very unlikely that this paper will stand up.<br /><br />Esp in Nature you need to be very careful about giving prominence to such contentious stuff.starcoursehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16884409344184272410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-24392105783275255792010-04-09T09:31:05.120-07:002010-04-09T09:31:05.120-07:00I don't think it necessarily follows from a st...I don't think it necessarily follows from a study like this that "Morals don't come from God".Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10029458954639734396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-80875819683439903422010-02-10T08:13:53.528-08:002010-02-10T08:13:53.528-08:00I've looked at the cited paper [1] briefly, bu...I've looked at the cited paper [1] briefly, but it's very light on data, heavy on the interpretation. If test scores are not correlated with the single binary data point of "religious background" or "not", then what other data points are test scores (significantly) correlated with, if any?<br /><br />Sorry, I'm out of field here, so I'm not willing to spend the time following the citations in [1] to try to find some actual data, but I'm interested whether the authors asked slightly more detailed questions than whether someone has a religious background or not, given that they're interested in correlations between religion and moral decisions. I can imagine asking, at least, how old a person was when they last went to church regularly, their age now, and what kind of church they went to.<br /><br />I was also struck by your "neither culture nor religion matter very much: some other factors – presumed to be inherited – dictate our judgements", which suggests, I suppose, that test scores were not correlated with age. I always thought that a 2-year-old had a different moral sense than a 10-year-old, and I'm pretty sure my moral sense as a 53-year-old is different from my moral sense as a 20-year-old?Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654675777726560464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-70957078099349462932010-02-10T04:18:19.050-08:002010-02-10T04:18:19.050-08:00I think you're right, that both 'nu-atheis...I think you're right, that both 'nu-atheists' and theists will be annoyed at the compromise that religion is socially pragmatic; neither pointless nor divine.<br /><br />Zealots will not suffer the notion of compromise, since they are driven by 'true' utopian ideals rather than 'real' earthly needs.<br /><br />"Perfection is the enemy of the good."JimmyGirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01548795180321590463noreply@blogger.com