Faith and Reason

I watched part of a debate today in which the topic was “Is Faith Compatible with Reason?” It was, as you might expect, a waste of time. The topic might have been, “What do we mean when we say two things are compatible?” Obviously some people are both religious and reasonable. On the other hand, faith and reason are opposites. But minds are vast and contain opposites. 

What is crucial may be that natural selection has made all of us prone to delusions. That means (probably) that delusions help us survive. There are beneficial delusions. It is a fact that people of faith tend to be happier than atheists. But once you know that, can you somehow acquire genuine faith? I doubt it.

Obviously not all delusions are equally beneficial. Yesterday we were treated on television to insights into the Q-anon community, which consists of nutters who argue that Democrats are child molesters. So the vital question is how do we combat the delusions that produce a President Spankbottom? We can identify obviously harmful delusions and combat them with reason and tar and feathers.