Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “dualism”, came with a note that it’s an oldie:
A resurrection today, as self-isolation means no travelling to the comic factory. This one is over 15 years old, and records the very first time the Barmaid ever spoke to the boys. They appear to have been quite taken aback.
Normal service will resume next week.
And the strip below. I’m not sure what theory the author is referring to here; is it Pascal Boyer’s theory that religion is a byproduct of our evolved tendency to attribute agency to events? If that’s the case, then it isn’t really an “evolutionary accident”, but a cultural “exaptation”—if you consider religion to be adaptive.
My guess is, ‘evolutionary accident’ refers to the emergence of the particular biophysical systems underlying cognitive development in our species. That development, she’s saying, is the underlying basis for the ‘dualism’ (= attribution of agency?) she’s referring to.
In simpler terms, religious belief is an unjustifable extrapolation from essential childhood parental guidance to unquestioning adulthood.
I also wondered where the Barmaid’s theory came from (it was a long time ago!). Having searched around, it seems likely that this article by Paul Bloom in The Atlantic was fresh in her mind at the time
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/12/is-god-an-accident/304425/
Say hello to the Barmaid for me.
Will do.
I’m guessing the dualism that Barmaid is talking about is that of the physical world vs the spiritual (imaginary) world. It’s the tendency, when presented with something one can’t explain, to attribute it to unseen forces. Children are more likely to do that as there’s simply a lot of stuff they don’t know.
That “childish dualism” is created by the child’s when believing parents teach the child about immaterial entities. GROG
Sorry, that’s “by the child”.
I love the whole “God shaped hole” thing. I always answer it by asking “would you rather have a brain tumour or a brain tumour shaped hole?”