Maybe there will one day be a scientific explanation that will rule out any possibility of having an animal soul or animal-like brain.
Saying this is looking at it the wrong way. The question isn't whether or not the dragon is there; it's why acting as though it is there is beneficial to people. And the goal isn't to bring the people in question to a hypothetical normative state, in which they no longer have to imagine dragons in their homes in order to feel comfortable. It's to help them feel comfortable.
The people who imagine the dragons are right to feel threatened by inquiry which seeks to rule them out, because the people who conduct inquiry with that object in mind don't value their well-being. They just want to get rid of dragons.
Conversely, the only ways I can imagine feeling threatened by other people's imaginary dragons are if the people imagining them have caused me material harm based on their beliefs, or if I don't want to face the possibility that the dragons are real on some level.
I personally experienced a crisis of belief in which I longed for my own "dragons" but didn't know how I could have them, and tried a lot of ways to rationalize their existence. I finally gave up and just decided to hold it as an axiom that they exist, and suddenly personal tests came back positive and attempts to communicate succeeded.
I think a lot could be said about this, but if we're going to be skeptical about it I suggest first questioning the reasons why we don't want to believe that reality works like this. Especially when it so clearly does.
no subject
Saying this is looking at it the wrong way. The question isn't whether or not the dragon is there; it's why acting as though it is there is beneficial to people. And the goal isn't to bring the people in question to a hypothetical normative state, in which they no longer have to imagine dragons in their homes in order to feel comfortable. It's to help them feel comfortable.
The people who imagine the dragons are right to feel threatened by inquiry which seeks to rule them out, because the people who conduct inquiry with that object in mind don't value their well-being. They just want to get rid of dragons.
Conversely, the only ways I can imagine feeling threatened by other people's imaginary dragons are if the people imagining them have caused me material harm based on their beliefs, or if I don't want to face the possibility that the dragons are real on some level.
I personally experienced a crisis of belief in which I longed for my own "dragons" but didn't know how I could have them, and tried a lot of ways to rationalize their existence. I finally gave up and just decided to hold it as an axiom that they exist, and suddenly personal tests came back positive and attempts to communicate succeeded.
I think a lot could be said about this, but if we're going to be skeptical about it I suggest first questioning the reasons why we don't want to believe that reality works like this. Especially when it so clearly does.