More facts and values

This hearkens way back to the old facts and values post in May. I just can't let go of the topic! Here is a link to a great article published by Newsweek that explains research by atheist Sam Harris that shows that "facts" and "opinions" are processed the same way in the brain. In other words, our brains essentially don't do much distinguishing between the two. The author of the article quotes Harris as saying, "belief is belief is belief."

This is a big deal for Harris because he wants to dispute the idea that religious belief is something special and different from other ways of believing. Ironically, I would love to cede him that point, if only to make another of my own. I think this research helps to prove, more importantly, the point I was trying to make a while ago about the accepted divide between facts and values: it simply should not exist!

"Facts" don't belong in a special category of their own, as uninterpreted or unmediated statements. Everything is filtered through the unique belief system of the individual, whether it is a statement like "the sky is blue" or one like "Jesus has risen from the dead." So, the perhaps unintended effect of Harris' research is to continue to dethrone the place of epistemological privilege for science. "Science" as a system that rests on bare, uninterpreted facts, is a falsehood. Atheists like Harris now must descend to the same level as believers in any other belief system. As he said: "belief is belief is belief," whether that belief is in pink unicorns, Jesus rising from the dead, or the red-shift of light from far away stars. Welcome to the level playing field!