Is Faith a Cognitive Error?

[SoFlaDem]

21. Could be an error, but does necessarily follow that it is a mistake

Last edited Fri Jan 18, 2019, 05:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Wow cognitive error sounds so damning. But I suppose a lot of things that humans do and believe could be seen as cognitive errors. Assuming that I am in any way different than any other human being and entitled to more resources based upon being born on the North American continent is probably a cognitive error, so patriotism is probably also cognitive error. But if there is nothing to have faith in, and humans are just the result of variations in DNA replication, resulting in natural selection (I am not a "creationist", whatever that means) then is there really such thing as "error", at least from an ethical standpoint?

I am not a member of a religious group, personally, but I do count myself as one of the growing class of people who consider themselves "spiritual, but not religious." So I do have a faith, but I don't have a religion. I see the Bible, the Quran, the Sutras and etc. as mythical writings. Many want to take everything in them literally, even that which defies historical and scientific evidence. Utilizing scientific method, it would therefore be an error to believe that, for example, Moses parted the Red Sea (or even lead a nation of Israelites out of Egypt for that matter).

But there is great value and power in myth from a spiritual standpoint. Anyone who reads and appreciates Joseph Campbell would probably agree. So I could believe the lessons and truths about us behind biblical stories or stories of the Buddha without having to actually believe that they happened, or that they happened as described in texts originating from at least as early as the Bronze Age. So reading and studying such texts, which are full of errors and inaccuracies is not an error for me because I can still learn and understand things about human nature and spirituality from them. Because they are human attempts at describing a divine, if there is a divine, I personally doubt that every single thing in them has value.

My personal, non-religious faith is that there is something greater, something powerful that I can tap into emotionally and psychologically. It is not scientific, but based upon my personal spiritual experiences. I have found strength in spiritual exercises, hope in prayer and ethical guidance in meditation. I can't explain it, I can't say everyone would experience the same, but I just do. I don't say others need to do the same, but I feel like there is a universal good that I can tap into that has helped me deal with my problems and difficulties. Is it a psychological trick? Maybe, but it works for me and I have seen it work in others.

It may not be what I think it is, or it may not prove the existence of the Divine, but it works nonetheless. I do not personally need a better explanation, nor do I personally believe that I could begin to explain it. Humans are not solely logical, they are also emotional and, I believe at least for me, spiritual. So if it works, to make me and my life happier, more peaceful and more ethical, I subjectively believe even if it is an error, it is not a mistake.