Head over to The Atlantic archive to read
James Hamblin's talk with Alan Levinovitz about the intersection of
religious thought and nutrition, storytelling and motivational
psychology, and how it all informs faith in science.
Myth is great for talking about where everything came from. Or what
happens after you die. Or whether there was something before nothing.
What is free will? We don't have great scientific accounts for these
things. I think there are religious narratives that help people deal
with really important but as-yet unanswerable questions. But myth is
terrible for dietary rules.
Ideas about religion can be so
powerful that people can't endorse them without giving up a part of
their identity. It's the same thing with diets. If you've adopted a diet
and it's become part of your identity, asking someone to reconsider
something as simple as eating sugar or gluten is kind of like asking
someone to give up their faith. To admit that the core of their identity
is fundamentally mistaken. The pointy-head scientists and the people
affiliated with Big Agriculture couldn't possibly be right because they
are demons. -- Alan Levinovitz
No comments:
Post a Comment