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From: anrwlias@netcom.com (A.X. Lias)
Subject: Re: Is belief a choice?
Message-ID: <anrwliasDCB7Hn.A43@netcom.com>
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References: <3ufb6f$lgc@hptemp1.cc.umr.edu> <3ut4n0$lg7@percy.cs.bham.ac.uk> <3utjp0$25u@uwm.edu> <3v2v26$ouf@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 1995 06:03:23 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai:31862 comp.ai.philosophy:30892

In article <3v2v26$ouf@netnews.upenn.edu>,
James A. Sledd <jsledd@psci.sas.upenn.edu> wrote:
>Paul Curtis Smith (pcsmith@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu) wrote:
>: Aaron Sloman (A.Sloman@cs.bham.ac.uk) wrote:
>
>: : I suspect that any species that had the ability directly to
>: : manipulate at will what it believed, rather than being constrained
>: : by sensory input and some generally valid reasoning process, would
>: : soon have been weeded out by natural selection.
>
>:       I think you've got a strong point here. 
>
>I don't.
>
>What organ does a species use to think with? 
>
>Doh!  Individuals think.  Talking about humans, wich many say are the
>most successfull species; *Some* of those individuals are capable of
>changing what they beleive at a whim (liars).

A liar does not change his beliefs when he lies, he simply makes 
statements that are at odds with his internal beliefs.

-- 
Andrew Lias | anrwlias@netcom.com | Finger for PGP key
*-------------------*-------------------------------*----------------------*
Christian Fundamentalism: The doctrine that there is an absolutely 
powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is 
deeply and personally concerned about my sex life.
