Presents the author’s view of the best current positions on certain core philosophical and psychological problems. These positions together suggest a skeptical or nihilist perspective modified by evolutionary psychology and contemporary philosophy that embraces our desire to live as best we can and the relative and psychological reality of values, free will and other phenomena while recognizing limitations on their foundations and our understanding. Readers may want to start with the first entry. - Marc Krellenstein (personal info here)
It could be argued that an unquestioned belief in the origin of the universe or the foundation of morality is a benefit to those who have it. Maybe such individuals possess a certain biological disposition to religious belief that is itself the result of evolution, e.g., people susceptible to such beliefs might be more inclined to sacrifice themselves in situations where it furthers the survival of those same genes in offspring and related group members. There is some evidence that religious belief is correlated with longer life expectancy. Similarly, there is evidence that people fare better with an optimistic or exaggerated, rather than realistic, sense of their own abilities or importance. In all these cases beliefs congruent with a rational examination of reality do not serve the individual as well as other beliefs (or an absence of beliefs, if ‘ignorance is bliss’). This is not so surprising from an evolutionary viewpoint. Knowledge and realistic beliefs presumably provide certain evolutionary benefits, but perhaps not all the time and in all situations.