Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 08:03 | Report Abuse

Refugees' destination

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have moved into Tripoli and surrounding areas.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 08:08 | Report Abuse

God-sent angel

Linda Borghol, an activist, started a soup kitchen during the protests. She negotiated to keep it going after the protest camp was broken up.

She now distributes 600 meals a day to the poor.

"We are heading toward a famine. I want to be there, even if with something this small," she said.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 09:20 | Report Abuse

RISK FACTORS: PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE

Individuals indoctrinated into fundamentalist groups have shown no trends of psychopathology and do not tend to be uneducated. In essence, they tend to resemble those in the general population.

However, there have been other indications that those indoctrinated into fundamentalist organizations had a history of personal, educational, and occupational shortcomings, leading to feeling of inadequacy. Though studies have shown extremist fundamentalists are usually not uneducated and do not have histories of intense psychological abnormalities, they tend to be underachievers and ineffective in most aspects of life.

Ultimately, most suicide bombers did not have quality career options and had unsatisfying personal lives. But while suicide bombers have generally had unsuccessful occupational histories, few had extensive, if any, criminal records or had 65shown previous compunctions towards violence. They have tended to be law abiding citizens previous to their involvement in terrorism. Of course, they also tend to be religious.

Some studies have shown religious involvement to be a protective factor against aggression in adolescents and teenagers. However, this may be due to those children having an outlet for safe community involvement. If that religious organization is a fundamentalist one, the outcome may be very different. Religion has certainly been shown to be a risk factor in the case of terrorist bombers and extreme fundamentalists in the Middle East and Europe.

Posted by DickyMe > 2020-07-04 09:22 | Report Abuse

Lebanon's fate can befall any country which practices discrimination in any form. When the international community shuns such countries, famine, inflation, currency value evaporation, economy slump will make them a pariah nation. Racism, religious extremity and institutionalised discrimination does not put food on the table in the long run.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 09:25 | Report Abuse

Manipulation of Religion

Common tactics to mold recruits are affiliation, isolation, secrecy, and fear. The recruited individual is typically given a great deal of positive attention and almost treated with celebrity status, especially by the recruiters and leaders who stay in constant contact with him. Informal friendship networks and a need of the individual to belong are two characteristics of the process. Recruits are socialized into the traditions, methods, and goals of the organization. Conformity and obedience are highly regarded, while nonconformity, disobedience, and disloyalty bring harsh punishments. Indoctrination is fueled by the media, with social status and cultural acceptance also influential in garnering new recruits. Regardless of how much or how little damage is done in a military sense, heightened exposure captures the public’s attention and draws in new recruits. Some of these are termed “self-burners,” who essentially indoctrinate themselves via Internet and media sources without having any formal affiliation to fundamentalist groups. These individuals then seek an organization to embark upon a mission with, since suicide bombings are never perpetrated by lone individuals.

The standard profile of a terrorist is an unmarried, average male over 18 with an average education level, someone who has been brought up in a religious background, but who is discouraged in both his career and private life.57 Terrorists come from a background of anger and frustration, and are often influenced by leaders who attempt to displace their aggression onto an enemy. Perceived deprivation is of fundamental importance to the metamorphosis from disenchanted citizen to militant extremist. It is hypothesized that fundamentalism has roots in individual and group narcissism. The individuals in the group seek to identify with absolute righteousness and to garner the respect associated with absolute righteousness. Those who believe otherwise are perceived as a threat to all that is good, when in fact they are only a threat to the fundamentalists’ self image. But by viewing dissenters as an existential threat to all that is wholesome, the fundamentalist sees extreme violence as a legitimate tool, because through its use they would be “preserving the wholesomeness and integrity of god".

Posted by DickyMe > 2020-07-04 09:27 | Report Abuse

"Common tactics to mold recruits are affiliation, isolation, secrecy, and fear. The recruited individual is typically given a great deal of positive attention and almost treated with celebrity status, especially by the recruiters and leaders who stay in constant contact with him."

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Modus operandi of a criminal gang's tactic.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 09:34 | Report Abuse

Yes, Dicky. It's time for education reform to wake up the next generation, control damage and repair their nation properly in the next decade....

.....the world would not wait for them to just pray and pray for money in the pockets and food on the table

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 09:40 | Report Abuse

Many of these qualities promotes an environment that limits human freedom. Many of the same psychological forces that underlie right-wing authoritarianism also underlie religious extremism. In addition to religious orientation, dogmatism, and a reliance on subjective values, religious fundamentalists show evidence of in-group bias, binary thinking, and feelings of both individual and fraternal deprivation.

Most terrorists have not shown symptoms of psychopathology, prior tendencies towards violence, or particularly low education or socioeconomic levels. However, most were shown to be underachievers who felt inadequacies and were relatively unsuccessful in their occupations and personal lives. Geligious fundamentalist indoctrination techniques are not radically different from those of Western right-wing authoritarians. They use education through schools, media, parents, and friends. They employ charismatic leaders to mold recruits and socialize them into the traditions, methods, and goals of the group.

The central purpose is to have the recruits relinquish morality as defined by societal norms, and instead substitute the morality of the fundamentalist group. One symptom of both groups is that they will rationalize their positions in order to meet the desires of the group, even if the actions to be taken logically contradict the basic premise of their religion. Though religion itself may not be inherently wrong,

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 09:45 | Report Abuse

Spare the children.....protect them before it's too late (approaching the cliff)

Though religion itself may not be inherently wrong, there are immense dangers in indoctrination. Children are targeted and trained to bypass reason and evidence. This produces adults who are impressionable and susceptible to irrational and unreasonable thought processes.

Indoctrination perpetuates in-group bias, binary thinking, isolation, and in extreme cases, radicalism and violence. If fundamentalist indoctrination continues to fester, the rigid belief systems, limits to human freedom, and propensity towards hostility and violence may have profound consequences on future generations.

The challenge is to separate religion from politics, education, categorical thinking, and unwarranted certitude, a formidable task indeed.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 10:34 | Report Abuse

In Lebonon, the lack of a scientific curriculum in medieval madrassas reflects a deeper absence of a capacity or willingness to build legally autonomous institutions. Madrassas were established under the law of waqf, or pious endowments, which meant they were legally obligated to follow the religious commitments of their founders. Islamic law did not recognize any corporate groups or entities, and so prevented any hope of recognizing institutions such as universities within which scholarly norms could develop.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 10:35 | Report Abuse

Understanding its journey to the cliff (Reviving history or extension of the fall of the golden age) Madrassas nearly always excluded study of anything besides the subjects that aid in understanding Islam: Arabic grammar, the Koran, the hadith, and the principles of sharia. These were often referred to as the “Islamic sciences,” in contrast to Greek sciences, which were widely referred to as the “foreign” or “alien” sciences (indeed, the term “philosopher” in Arabic — faylasuf — was often used pejoratively). Furthermore, the rigidity of the religious curriculum in madrassas contributed to the educational method of learning by rote; even today, repetition, drill, and imitation — with chastisement for questioning or innovating — are habituated at an early age in many parts of the Arab world.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 10:45 | Report Abuse

Vaccine, the answer and cure?

In trying to explain the religious world’s intellectual laggardness, it is tempting to point to the obvious factors: authoritarianism, bad education, and underfunding (religious states spend significantly less than developed states on research and development as a percentage of GDP).

At a deeper level, religiosity lags because it failed to offer a way to institutionalize free inquiry. That, in turn, is attributable to its failure to reconcile faith and reason. In this respect, religious societies have fared worse not just than the West but also than many other agnostic societies.

With a couple of exceptions, these countries have been inadvently ruled by an autocrat, a radical sect, or a tribal chieftain - without rational tradition of separating politics and religion.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 10:55 | Report Abuse

The critical elements of the scientific worldview is competing with religiosity for political and legal protection.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 11:00 | Report Abuse

Their currency has lost nearly 60 percent of its value to the Sing dollar

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 11:05 | Report Abuse

Endlese deceiving false promises of development and reformasi

Residents are also bitter over grand promises that never materialise from rival Sunni politicians vying for their support.

Posted by ben0303 > 2020-07-04 11:20 | Report Abuse

That is their destiny. Nothing the world can do to undo it. Lessons for us to learn.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 14:54 | Report Abuse

ben0303, it's over a thousand year history......

.....crucial lessons are missed

only art like khatoon and other outdated scriptures are learned

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 14:55 | Report Abuse

Growing numbers of poor scramble for aid.

A typical family's story would be like a mother of five, she was already struggling, relying on donations to care for a baby daughter with some birth defects, cerebral palsy or chronic disease.

60 percent of the workforce make less than $1 a day. Lebanon is struggling with poverty and political instability amid a coronavirus outbreak.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 14:58 | Report Abuse

Social inequalities

Equality plays an important role in ensuring a dignified existence in society. While there are multiple factors that render some members of society less equal than the others, this study specifically focuses on two social factors in the context of Lebanon: gender and legal status.

Forty-five percent below poverty line. Lebanese are growing more desperate as jobs disappear and their money’s value evaporates in a terrifying confluence of events.

Overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and home to over 700,000 people, Tripoli has suffered years of neglect and is stigmatised with violence, thuggery, street protests and extremism.

Divisions among Lebanon's sectarian leadership hamper attempts to address the crisis.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:02 | Report Abuse

Poor households’ access to social assistance, social insurance and social services

Some policies and programmes designed to redistribute wealth and protect poor households in difficult times exist in Lebanon; however they are not necessarily coordinated for better impact and optimum
utilisation of resources. Most households interviewed in the study had heard about NSSF and seemed to be aware of the entitlements, but only a negligible few mentioned being registered.

Poverty is not a new phenomenon in Lebanon - plaguing the nation over a decade. Years of unrest, political stalemate and slowing down of economic growth has meant that households
have lived in poverty for a long time.

Hezbollah, which dominates the government, reluctantly supported plans to seek help from the International Monetary Fund, a sign of its concern about widening hardships. IMF support will likely mean cuts in the public sector, the largest employer, likely to cause squabbling among political factions.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:08 | Report Abuse

The Curse of Fundamentalism

Evidence from representative samples of over many adults in Lebanon conclude that fundamentalism is stronger in the country where religious liberty is lower, regulation of religion greater, and the national context less globalized.

Among individuals, fundamentalism is linked to religiosity, confidence in religious institutions, belief in religious modernity, belief in conspiracies, xenophobia, fatalism, weaker liberal values, trust in family and friends, reliance on less diverse information sources, lower socioeconomic status, and membership in an ethnic majority or dominant religion/sect.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:11 | Report Abuse

Vague, Indistinctive and Overlapping

The distinction between religious education and indoctrination is vague and ambiguous. Indoctrination takes place when one circumvents reasoning and imparts a way of thinking based on something other than the force of evidence, so that the child holds the beliefs irrationally, without regard for evidence.

Since teaching of religion cannot fall into any category of demonstrating direct evidence or being derived from an authority figure who has personally witnessed the direct evidence, it must fall into the a category: bypassing decisive rationale, reason, and evidence to impart beliefs by exerting psychological pressure or acting as a false authority figure. This is indoctrination.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:12 | Report Abuse

Evolutionary Theory Behind Faith

Bering identified three possibilities for humans’ tendency towards religious belief:

1) it is simply a vestige of a time when human knowledge could not explain life and death, and religious belief filled the vacuum of knowledge;

2) it is strictly a product of cultural indoctrination;

3) it is an evolutionary product that humans are predisposed to developing.

If religious belief is a vestige of an earlier time, then it has outlived its usefulness now that science can more accurately describe life processes. If it is neither a vestige nor a product of indoctrination, then there would likely be a genetic predisposition, an evolutionary root to religious belief.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:14 | Report Abuse

Origin Riddle

If indoctrination were at the root of religious belief, then we would logically see more irrational views of mysticism amongst more developmentally advanced humans. If there is indeed an evolutionary foundation, younger children would be more inclined to show those patterns. There is some empirical support for the evolutionary perspective. Bering’s 2006 study found that the younger children were the more likely to believe that the mental functions of a deceased animal would continue to function after death, although even preschoolers showed an understanding that the body ceased functioning at death.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:15 | Report Abuse

21st Century Religious Education

This religious perspective can be especially problematic when it is combined with political ideology, which undoubtedly calls for more nuance and sophistication than binary thinking would allow. The combination of religious indoctrination and politics leads to increased radicalization and isolation of the in-group, because the political policy must either correspond absolutely with the religious dogma of the group, or it is rejected out of hand as a sinister product of the out-group.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:17 | Report Abuse

From humane to fearless

Religion mitigates the psychological inadequacies of the right-wing authoritarian, because it serves as a defensive reaction towards the fear of death. If one believes in life after death, then death is not final, and the fear associated with it is diminished. Belief in a perfect deity helps individuals rationalize their fears associated with their own inadequacies. Because these religious beliefs are rooted in people’s most existential fears, if those beliefs are questioned by people of other faiths or nonbelievers, the believers often react with extreme hostility, aggression, and possibly violence. By eliminating nonbelievers, the religious people can eliminate a source of doubt, insulate themselves from confronting fears, and strengthen group bonds through a consensus that the aggression is a necessary sacrifice for their god. The representations in various religions of angry gods who punish transgressions with vehemence may give further justification to those believers who react with violence towards those with opposing beliefs.

Another characteristic of indoctrination that would help to explain the endeavors of fundamentalists to enter public schools is unwarranted certitude. Fundamentalists view themselves as fighting in defense of their god against those who oppose him. Believing their inspiration is from an infallible god, fundamentalist leaders and their followers are convinced their actions are right, even in the presence of evidence to the contrary. As their position becomes more tenuous due to mounting evidence against it, they will become more vehement in defending it, as though the strength of their opinions will somehow supersede reality. Since the individual’s identity is so strongly tied to the fundamentalist group, situations that suggest the possibility of being mistaken also become a threat to the ideal self of the group member.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:19 | Report Abuse

Why innocent children are being targeted by this cruel manipulative group?

Children are beginning to form simple group identities. They have been shown to form biases against out-group members even without adult guidance or overt stimuli. In this regard they are perfect candidates for indoctrination. Fundamentalism is dependent on the group members forming a categorical identity and having each individual’s self-concept be related to the group identity. The stronger the group identity, the more pliable the members become to the desires of the group leaders. This also creates greater possibilities for extremism and violence. If the group is a minority, there is a greater chance of radicalism, since minority groups show more in-group bias.

By using divisively inciting racist narrative, irresponsible leaders fuels individual discontent because the individual’s identity is so closely tied to the group. It has been theorized that right-wing authoritarianism is rooted in psychological inadequacies and defense mechanisms. Right-wing authoritarianism appears to correlate with dogmatism, need for cognitive closure, religious orientation, and fears about a dangerous world.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 15:20 | Report Abuse

Before falling off the cliff.....wake up.....revive diversity-rich democracy.....reject froggy authoritarianism

It has long been theorized that right-wing authoritarianism is rooted in psychological inadequacies and defense mechanisms. Right-wing authoritarianism appears to correlate with dogmatism, need for cognitive closure, religious orientation, and fears about a dangerous world.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:11 | Report Abuse

Key lessons from history for children to understand (Why kids must learn true history)

1. Which glorious religiosity-based kingdom last only about half a millennium......then fell (around 11th century) and couldn't retake the world to lead in science, math and tech?

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:13 | Report Abuse

The past does not promise a future: From astrology, Greek literature, and Zoroastrianianism to “champions of the truth.”

Scientific activity was reaching a peak when Islam was the dominant civilization in the world. One important factor in the rise of the scholarly culture of the Golden Age was its material backdrop. By the year 750, the Arabs had conquered Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and much of North Africa, Central Asia, Spain, and the fringes of China and India. Newly opened routes connecting India and the Eastern Mediterranean spurred an explosion of wealth through trade, as well as an agricultural revolution.

Astrology was another Greek subject adapted for use in Baghdad: the Abbasids turned to it for proof that the caliphate was the divinely ordained successor to the ancient Mesopotamian empires — although such claims were sometimes eyed warily, because the idea that celestial information can predict the future clashed with Islamic teaching that only God has such knowledge.

In an effort to enfold this constituency into a reliable ruling base, the Abbasids incorporated Zoroastrianism and the imperial ideology of the defunct Persian Sasanian Empire, more than a century gone, into their political platform. The Abbasid rulers sought to establish the idea that they were the successors not to the defeated Arab Umayyads who had been overthrown in 650 but to the region’s previous imperial dynasty, the Sasanians.

In the eyes of Abbasid Muslims of this era, the ancient Greeks did not have a pristine reputation — they were not Muslims, after all — but at least they were not tainted with Christianity. The fact that the hated Christian Byzantines did not embrace the ancient Greeks, though, led the Abbasids to warm to them. This philhellenism in the centuries after al-Mamun marked a prideful distinction between the Arabs — who considered themselves “champions of the truth.”

(Until its collapse in the Mongol invasion of 1258, the Abbasid caliphate was the greatest power in the Islamic world and oversaw the most intellectually productive movement in Arab history. The Abbasids read, commented on, translated, and preserved Greek and Persian works that may have been otherwise lost. By making Greek thought accessible, they also formed the foundation of the Arabic Golden Age. Major works of philosophy and science far from Baghdad — in Spain, Egypt, and Central Asia — were influenced by Greek-Arabic translations, both during and after the Abbasids. Indeed, even if it is a matter of conjecture to what extent the rise of science in the West depended on Arabic science, there is no question that the West benefited from both the preservation of Greek works and from original Arabic scholarship that commented on them.)

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:16 | Report Abuse

Why the Golden Age Faded?

Answers: Anti-rationalist sentiment, movement and political propaganda.

After the fourteenth century, the Arab world saw very few innovations in fields that it had previously dominated, such as optics and medicine; henceforth, its innovations were for the most part not in the realm of metaphysics or science, but were more narrowly practical inventions like vaccines. “The Renaissance, the Reformation, even the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment, passed unnoticed in the Muslim world.” As the global science leader turns into a follower, the trap of consumerism, curse of poverty and social injustice ensure.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:17 | Report Abuse

Why the Golden Age Faded?

Answers: Anti-rationalist sentiment, movement and political propaganda.

After the fourteenth century, the Arab world saw very few innovations in fields that it had previously dominated, such as optics and medicine; henceforth, its innovations were for the most part not in the realm of metaphysics or science, but were more narrowly practical inventions like vaccines. “The Renaissance, the Reformation, even the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment, passed unnoticed in the Muslim world.” As the global science leader turns into a follower, the trap of consumerism, the curse of poverty and the sin social injustice ensure.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:20 | Report Abuse

What Went So Wrong Leading To The Fall Of The Science, Technology, Humanity and Economic Cliffs?

The relationship between religious fundamentalism and sciences has turned inversely. Those who had been disciples now became teachers; those who had been masters became pupils, often reluctant and recalcitrant, stubborn and resentful pupils. The civilization that had produced cities, libraries, and observatories and opened itself to the world had now regressed and become closed, resentful, violent, and hostile to discourse and innovation.

In its place arose the anti-rationalist Ashariiii school whose increasing dominance is linked to the decline of Lebanese science. With the rise of the Ashariteeees, the ethos in their world was increasingly opposed to original scholarship and any scientific inquiry that did not directly aid in religious regulation of private and public life.

While the Mutaziliteees had contended that the medieval scripture was created and so God’s purpose for man must be interpreted through reason, the Ashariteeees believed the scripture to be coeval with God — and therefore unchallengeable. At the heart of Ashariiii metaphysics is the idea of occasionalism, a doctrine that denies natural causality. Put simply, it suggests natural necessity cannot exist because God’s will is completely free. Ashariteeees believed that God is the only cause, so that the world is a series of discrete physical events each willed by God.

As concluded by Steven Weinberg in the Times of London, that after al-Ghazali “there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries”, although ironically philosophy was still studied somewhat under Shi’ite rule. (In the Sunni world, philosophy turned into mysticism.) But the fact is, Arab contributions to science became increasingly sporadic as the anti-rationalism sank in.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 16:23 | Report Abuse

Vaccine for poverty, down-to-earth advancement and grey matter malady? Vaccine to support science progress?

The rise of modern science is the result of the development of a civilizationally based culture that was uniquely humanistic in the sense that it tolerated, indeed, protected and promoted those heretical and innovative ideas that ran counter to accepted religious and theological teaching. And the critical elements of the scientific worldview needs serious political and legal support.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:14 | Report Abuse

The attitude of inquiry has helped lay the foundation for modern science. Beginning in the early Middle Ages, this attitude was evident in technological innovations among even unlearned artisans and merchants. These obscure people contributed to the development of practical technologies, such as the mechanical clock (circa 1272) and spectacles.

Even as early as the sixth century, Europeans strove to invent labor-saving technology, such as the heavy-wheeled plow and, later, the padded horse collar. According to research by the late Charles Issawi of Princeton University, eleventh-century England had more mills per capita than even the Ottoman lands at the height of the empire’s power. And although it was in use since 1460 in the West, the printing press was not introduced in the Islamic world until 1727. The Arabic world appears to have been even slower in finding uses for academic technological devices. For instance, the telescope appeared in the Middle East soon after its invention in 1608, but it failed to attract excitement or interest until centuries later.

As science in the Arabic world declined and retrogressed, Europe hungrily absorbed and translated classical and scientific works, mainly through cultural centers in Spain. By 1200, Oxford and Paris had curricula that included works of Arabic science. Works by Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, and Galen, along with commentaries by Avicenna and Averroës, were all translated into Latin. Not only were these works taught openly, but they were formally incorporated into the program of study of universities. Meanwhile, in the Islamic world, the dissolution of the Golden Age was well underway......

......many nations fall into authoritarian and kleptocracy

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:22 | Report Abuse

Fundamentalism impedes cognitive plasticity

In moderation, spiritual practices can be good for a person’s mental well-being. But fundamentalism — which refers to the belief in the absolute authority of a religious text or leaders — is never healthy for an individual. This is primarily because fundamentalism discourages any logical reasoning or scientific evidence that challenges its scripture, making it inherently maladaptive.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:28 | Report Abuse

Fundamentalism: A disease or a parasite?

It is incorrect to call fundamentalism a disease, because that term refers to a pathology that physically attacks the biology of a system. But fundamentalist ideologies can be thought of as mental parasites. A parasite does not usually kill the host it inhabits, as it is critically dependent on it for survival. Instead, it feeds off it and changes its behavior in ways that benefit its own existence.

By understanding how fundamentalist ideologies function and are represented in the brain using this analogy, we can begin to understand how to inoculate against them - just like the way we vaccinate children against communicable diseases.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:35 | Report Abuse

Fundamentalism Mutates

Like genes, when an ideology is replicated — or passed from one person or group to another—it undergoes mutations. As a consequence, different versions of that belief system are produced, which generate different types of behavior.

As such, there are often good and bad variants of any given religion. For instance, there are moderate versions of Christianity that promote qualities like a sense of community and a moral code that fosters ethical behavior. These ideas can be beneficial to the host organism, i.e., the religious-practicing individual.

At the same time, there are harmful variants, specifically the rigid fundamentalist versions — that cause the host mind to process information in a biased way, think irrationally, and become delusional........

.........deviating from down-to-earth moral values - of which generally against thuggery, treachery, trickery, thievery and slandering.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:40 | Report Abuse

Trojan Horse: Ideological Viruses and Mental Parasites

There are various types of viruses and parasites, and viruses are themselves parasites. Computer viruses are destructive pieces of code that insert themselves into existing programs and change the actions of those programs.

One particularly nasty type of computer virus that relies on humans for replication, known as a “Trojan horse,” disguises itself as something useful or sacred in order to persuade individuals to upload, copy and spread it. Similarly, a harmful ideology disguises itself as something beneficial in order to insert itself into the brain of an individual, so that it can instruct them to behave in ways that transmit the mental virus to others.

The ability for parasites to modify the behavior of hosts in ways that increase their own “fitness” (i.e., their ability to survive and reproduce) while hurting the healthy state of the host, is known as “parasitic manipulation.”

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:43 | Report Abuse

Witchcraft, wishful ideation and magical thinking

Fundamentalism is strongly correlated with what psychologists and neuroscientists call “magical thinking,” which refers to making connections between actions and events when no such connections exist in reality.

Without magical thinking, fundamentalism can’t survive, nor can it replicate itself. Another cognitive impairment we see in those with extreme fundamentalist views is a greater reliance on intuitive rather than reflective or analytic thought, which frequently leads to incorrect assumptions since intuition is often deceiving or overly simplistic.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:48 | Report Abuse

From intolerance to competing ideas to science denial

Since science about the quantum fluctuation in universe, and biology evolution in lifeforms are nothing more than a method of determining truth using empirical measurement and hypothesis testing, denial of science equates to the denial of objective truth and tangible evidence. In other words, the denial of reality. Not only does fundamentalism promote delusional thinking, it also discourages followers from exposing themselves to any different ideas, which acts to protect the delusions that are essential to the ideology.

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 17:54 | Report Abuse

The Bitter Truth of the 21st Century: Cognitive plasticity and ideas are wealthy and money; lacking of these perpetuates poverty

If we want to inoculate society against the harms of fundamentalist ideologies, we must start thinking differently about how they function in the brain. An ideology with a tendency to harm its host in an effort to self-replicate gives it all the properties of a parasitic virus, and defending against such a belief system requires understanding it as one. When a fundamentalist ideology inhabits a host brain, the organism’s mind is no longer fully in control. The ideology is controlling its behavior and reasoning processes to propagate itself and sustain its survival. This analogy should inform how we approach efforts that attempt to reverse brainwashing and restore cognitive function in areas like analytic reasoning and problem-solving. Without analytic reasoning and problem-solving abilities, badly in debt and poverty stricken nations can only continue to fall of the cliff!

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:01 | Report Abuse

From cognitive rigidity to departure from norm

Fundamentalism requires a departure from ordinary empirical inquiry: it reflects a rigid cognitive strategy that fixes beliefs and amplifies within-group commitment and out-group bias (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2005).

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:04 | Report Abuse

Its evolutionary advantage lies in terms of its effect on social functional behavior, since it promotes coherence and predictability among individuals within groups

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:05 | Report Abuse

Religious beliefs are socially transmitted mental representations that may include supernatural or supernormal episodes that are assumed to be real. Religious beliefs, like other beliefs, are embedded in different ways in different people and societies (Cristofori & Grafman)

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:07 | Report Abuse

From the cliff, one may fall down, another flies away

Empirical beliefs are indications of how the world appears to us and are updated according to accumulated evidence. Fundamentalist religious beliefs, in comparison, do not track and predict variation in the world. Rather, they appear to track, and predict, social group-level commitments (Bulbulia & Schjoedt, 2012).

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:09 | Report Abuse

Cognitive flexibility, mental plasticity and open-mindedness

Cognitive flexibility across a broad spectrum of lineages, including humans, evolved for ecological prediction and control. It allows organisms to update beliefs in light of evidence. In humans, cognitive flexibility enables efficient task switching, and is linked with inhibition and working memory (Canas, Quesada, Antoli, & Fajardo, 2003).

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:16 | Report Abuse

Impact of cognitive closure among the majority: Ballooning of country debt, shrinking currency value, and rising poverty rate

Fundamentalism is associated with the need for cognitive closure (Brandt & Reyna, 2010; Saroglou, 2002), which mediates the relationship between fundamentalism and prejudice towards value-violating outgroups, with close-mindedness and preference for order and predictability accounting for the effect (Brandt & Reyna, 2010).

A need for cognitive closure represents the desire for predictability and rigidity instead of openness, and is correlated with conservative, conforming values (Calogero, Bardi, & Sutton, 2009; Kruglanski & Webster, 1996).

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:19 | Report Abuse

There is an inverse relationship between analytic thinking and religious belief (Gervais & Norenzayan, 2012; Norenzayan, Gervais, & Trzesniewski, 2012; Willard & Norenzayan, 2013). These studies describe analytic thinking as an underminer of religious beliefs which may either suppress default tendencies to form religious beliefs or inhibit culturally acquired concepts.

It has been argued that religious beliefs arise from deficits in perceptual tracking of ecological variation (e.g. Foster & Kokko, 2009; Guthrie, 1993). Collectively, these findings predict that fundamentalism may be related to reduced cognitive flexibility and trait openness

Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-07-04 18:24 | Report Abuse

The meta-analysis by Zuckerman, et al. (2013) analyzing 63 studies found a negative association between intelligence and religiosity.

Intelligent individuals may be less likely to conform to a set of religious doctrines; a more analytic thinking style adopted by intelligent individuals has been demonstrated to discourage religious belief (Gervais & Norenzayan, 2012); and some beneficial facets of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, self-enhancement, and secure attachment, are also provided by intelligence and thus higher intelligence reduces the need to strictly adhere to fundamentalist religious beliefs and practices.