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NL888 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Does " misfiring mechanism" mean...?
Does "misfiring mechanism" mean "(cerebral neurons) misfiring mechanism"?
Context:
Moths depend critically on this, having evolved compound eyes and a nervous system that is adept at setting up a temporary rule of thumb such as: “Steer a course such that the light rays hit your eyes at an angle of 30 degrees”. But the light compass depends crucially on the celestial object being at optical infinity. If it isn’t, the rays are not parallel but diverge like the spokes of a wheel. A moth’s nervous system applying a 30-degree (or any acute angle) rule of thumb to a nearby candle as though it were the moon or stars at optical infinity will steer the insect through a spiral trajectory into the flame.
Dawkins believes that the same misfiring mechanism is largely responsible for the emergence of religion, that religion is an unintended and accidental by-product of a psychological disposition in humans. He suggests, tentatively, that the counterpart to the moth’s habit of navigating by celestial light compasses, the primitively advantageous trait in humans that sometimes misfires to generate religion, is the unquestioning obedience by children of orders given by parents and tribal elders, especially when the latter adopt a solemn, minatory tone (p.205).
Context:
Moths depend critically on this, having evolved compound eyes and a nervous system that is adept at setting up a temporary rule of thumb such as: “Steer a course such that the light rays hit your eyes at an angle of 30 degrees”. But the light compass depends crucially on the celestial object being at optical infinity. If it isn’t, the rays are not parallel but diverge like the spokes of a wheel. A moth’s nervous system applying a 30-degree (or any acute angle) rule of thumb to a nearby candle as though it were the moon or stars at optical infinity will steer the insect through a spiral trajectory into the flame.
Dawkins believes that the same misfiring mechanism is largely responsible for the emergence of religion, that religion is an unintended and accidental by-product of a psychological disposition in humans. He suggests, tentatively, that the counterpart to the moth’s habit of navigating by celestial light compasses, the primitively advantageous trait in humans that sometimes misfires to generate religion, is the unquestioning obedience by children of orders given by parents and tribal elders, especially when the latter adopt a solemn, minatory tone (p.205).
Top answer
Hello NL. It's important to be clear that misfiring mechanism here does not mean a mechanism for misfiring, but a mechanism which is misfiring. I wasn't sure that you saw this.
- Hello NL.
- It's important to be clear that misfiring mechanism here does not mean a mechanism for misfiring, but a mechanism which is misfiring.
- I wasn't sure that you saw this.
- I think the point is that there is an evolutionary advantage for children in obeying their parents - parents give good advice, and so the children who don't follow it are often killed, and thus cannot pass on their genes.
- Dawkins, if I understand him correctly, is saying that this mechanism to obey higher authority which has evolved in man over the millennia, and which, in children, improves security, can bring what he sees as a secondary effect which is disadvantageous: man finds he needs a higher authority, and so creates one, a ***, thereby giving himself something to obey and revere.
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1 Answers
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Hello NL.
It's important to be clear that misfiring mechanism here does not mean a mechanism for misfiring, but a mechanism which is misfiring. I wasn't sure that you saw this.
I think the point is that there is an evolutionary advantage for children in obeying their parents - parents give good advice, and so the children who don't foll
It's important to be clear that misfiring mechanism here does not mean a mechanism for misfiring, but a mechanism which is misfiring. I wasn't sure that you saw this.
I think the point is that there is an evolutionary advantage for children in obeying their parents - parents give good advice, and so the children who don't foll
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