Medical Hypotheses

Medical Hypotheses is a journal edited by Bruce Charlton but with a parallel blog of Bruce’s own papers for the last 2 years. The blog title can be misleading, since although Bruce comes from / operates in the medical / psychiatry / psychology area, and the journal itself covers this ground, his own blogging and editorial scope is much more broadly epistemological in terms of knowledge and truth generally.

I came across Bruce the first time I researched Pirsig, and have corresponded once or twice since.

Much interesting stuff for my agenda – the Inklings including Barfield , Bronowski’s “Tolerance” , “Clever Sillies” and “The Atheist Delusion“.

… Atheism is a ‘clever’ but maladaptive explanation for reality; which is preferred by many smart people exactly because it is goes against natural instinct, and therefore both requires and signals greater cleverness among its advocates. Pride in one’s own cleverness thereby overwhelms the fundamental adaptation to reality; indeed willed-nihilism and desired ideological self-extinction are, to a remarkable extent, precisely the hallmarks of an intelligent and Politically Correct Atheist.

… I suggest that it can be argued that atheism is literally a delusion, using objective psychiatric criteria.

The latter drawing the attention of the Dawkinsian crowd. Heh, heh. When are the Dawkinsians ever going to get it ? The clever sillies – high objective-scientific-rational IQ, but no common sense problem – it’s the wisdom angle – but I don’t see Bruce using the concept of wisdom in his arguments ? Worth more reading. Excellent stuff, for an non-theist like me.