(no subject)

The percentages people gave in response to the questions of my poll Monday:

I have thoughts that seem to be intrusive or come from 'outside' of 'me.'
yes: 22 (53.7%)
no: 19 (46.3%)

I have done things and not known why I did them.
yes: 25 (61.0%)
no: 16 (39.0%)

I have watched myself do things and it was almost like it wasn't 'me' doing it.
yes: 25 (61.0%)
no: 16 (39.0%)

Most of the time I deal with other people I feel I have to pretend to be something I am not.
yes: 16 (39.0%)
no: 25 (61.0%)

I feel like a 'whole person.'
yes: 26 (63.4%)
no: 15 (36.6%)

I have given names to different sides of my personality.
yes: 20 (48.8%)
no: 21 (51.2%)

I have other reasons to think I am in some way 'fractured.'
yes: 17 (41.5%)
no: 24 (58.5%)

Now, it's worth pointing out that the selection of people who answered do not represent a random cross-section of society. You who did are, on the whole, far more intelligent than average, far more introspective, and far more attuned to occultism and mysticism. This means you are much more likely than the average person to be keenly aware of what is going on in your body and mind.

You are also somewhat more likely to be "outside the norm" in various ways, though it is unclear how exactly that would affect the outcome of my poll.

All in all these percentages are higher than I anticipated seeing. For example, half of you who answered have given names to different aspects of your personality. 40% of you feel you are pretending to be someone else when you deal with other people. 60% of you have done things without really knowing why or have watched yourself do things as if you were watching someone else.

The implications are fascinating, but I'm not sure yet what the deeper meanings are.

(no subject)

Crossposting to philosophy

The thesis that I'm moving towards with regard to the evolution of ethics is this:

1. The moral or ethical code of any given soceity is largely based on, or at least never contradicts, current economic needs and realities.

2. A self-organizing principle of ethical evolution has guided the development of human morality over the millenia. That principle is simply this: ethical systems which are more self-consistent will tend to become prominent over less self-consistent ethical systems whenever they arise. This is true even when people act purely out of self-interest.

3. Exceptions to rule 2 are usually due to natural, political, or economic catastrophe.

4. Ethical evolution, like economic progress, has often been prodded by technological progress.

The logic behind rule 2 is the observation that efficiency tends to win out over inefficiency. Even though people may find that it is in their own immediate personal interest to commit an unethical act, I suggest that in the long run, and in the aggregate, unethical acts do not pay off. When a society is faced with a contest between two ethical systems, the one which is the most self-consistent will come to dominate because its adherents will, in the long run, do better.

"Self-consistency" is here measured in a way reminiscent of Kant's categorical imperative, which could be summarized as follows: "act only in such a way that you could want the maxim (the motivating principle) of your action to become a universal law." The basis of this is the observation that when people act unethically, they are acting in such a way that would lead to universal detriment if everyone acted that way.

(no subject)

( Discworld quiz! )

(no subject)

This, from James via email:
Spell-a-casters

( and a couple more quizzes )

(no subject)

Reading this week is Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew Newberg and Gene D'Aquili (both MD).

This is in many ways one of the most important books I've read in a long time. It is couched in very general terms, but the substance of it -- which deals with the neurology of mystical experience, mythmaking, and ritual -- is extremely eye-opening. It is the most profoundly transformative book I've read since Desmond Morris's The Naked Ape.

( an excerpt plus more )