Mormon Science

Yes the science of evolution as you say is really not up for debate at this point unless I guess you deny empirical evidence in place of more intangible belief in mysticism. But to your point of how we have evolved into what we are and how Mormonism fulfills some of the needs that we require as humans I do not disagree in general. The point I would make is that many other organizations or religions could do the same thing. Being a mormon may fulfill basic human needs better than some and not as good as other organizations. It again becomes an individual thing that must work for you.

As for me the benefits of being Mormon are not always worth the costs associated with it. It is perhaps at best a wash.

I wanted to share my approach to Mormonism through science. This has really helped me to Stay LDS. Let me know what you think both positive and negative. My argument is that Mormonism is scientifically the ideal way for us to live.

…I want to focus on is understanding human nature and how we have come to be… The idea of religious worship is something that has evolved in us over 10’s of thousand of years. And It’s something we need just like we need to eat and breath etc. It fulfills something in us that we can’t fulfill any other way and I know I personally miss when I don’t have it.

…It’s a human need and it’s built within us and as a result we are happiest in a family environment that can ensure a protective place for our children and a way to take care of one another…Humans have always lived, worked, and moved as a community based on common values which many times we derive from religion. There is a strong desire in us to belong to a community…In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs you’ll find morality at the very top of the pyramid in the highest level – self actualization.

These are some interesting points. When people think of science, in many cases they think mostly about physical science like Chemistry, Geology, Biology, Astronomy, Physics, etc. but it seems like Psychology and other social sciences are often more applicable for trying to understand people’s interest in religion.

Non-scientific considerations like tradition, value judgments, morality, social relationships, etc. are often more important to people than scientific knowledge which they often take for granted. With pure physical science based mostly on empirical evidence, there’s not much justification to claim that people “ought” to behave a certain way independent of the consequences. However, if everyone behaves in a purely selfish way the overall results in the local society are likely to be negative for the majority of people involved.

This is why it doesn’t bother me that much if people believe in a myth as long as the consequences are neutral or positive. If believing in a myth does little or no harm or is actually good for society and makes people happier and healthier on average then I don’t see any good reason to try to eliminate it regardless of what turns out to be true or not. Of course, like Cadence pointed out the overall cost of Mormonism is relatively high in terms of what you are asked to do, so for some people it’s not really worth it and they think this is not the ideal way to live at all.

Non-scientific considerations like tradition, value judgments, morality, social relationships, etc. are often more important to people than scientific knowledge which they often take for granted. With pure physical science based mostly on empirical evidence, there’s not much justification to claim that people “ought” to behave a certain way independent of the consequences. However, if everyone behaves in a purely selfish way the overall results in the local society are likely to be negative for the majority of people involved.

This is why it doesn’t bother me that much if people believe in a myth as long as the consequences are neutral or positive. If believing in a myth does little or no harm or is actually good for society and makes people happier and healthier on average then I don’t see any good reason to try to eliminate it regardless of what turns out to be true or not. Of course, like Cadence pointed out the overall cost of Mormonism is relatively high in terms of what you are asked to do, so for some people it’s not really worth it and they think this is not the ideal way to live at all.

There is a concept in academia called “Theories in Use”. These are theories people adopt about the way the world works, and these theories drive behavior. In my view, “Theories in Use” rule the world more than science or absolute truth because there is so much which is unknown that is IMPORTANT to living your life. We can’t just sit around and let our life expire while we wait for science to prove without a doubt that a certain cause-effect relationship exists, or that a certain theory is true. We have to live our lives, and that means taking the available information and fashioning your own “theory in use” from it.

With that backdrop, DA’s comment below has interesting meaning:

This is why it doesn’t bother me that much if people believe in a myth as long as the consequences are neutral or positive. If believing in a myth does little or no harm or is actually good for society and makes people happier and healthier on average then I don’t see any good reason to try to eliminate it regardless of what turns out to be true or not.

For me, Mormonism is becoming my Theory in Use that does point people toward good behavior. In fact, I might adopt this attitude in my next temple recommend interview. The question “Do you Believe in the Restoration” for me means “are you willing to accept this as your theory in use?”. Implicit in that statement is that it’s a theory and not an absolute truth — but I let it drive my behavior to some extent.

Because no one can objectively corroborate what happened to Joseph Smith, this theory in use is a good as any others for me — as it points people toward good behavior and clean living.

Of course, like Cadence pointed out the overall cost of Mormonism is relatively high in terms of what you are asked to do, so for some people it’s not really worth it and they think this is not the ideal way to live at all.

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Agreed — I find myself in that place often. DA mentioned that a belief system is good if it makes people happy (in addition to being good for society). There are times when being a Mormon has made me absolutely miserable. In fact, that’s why I ended up on this site. I found the sacrifices required weren’t producing the kind of peace and happiness and self-esteem that led me to the Church in the first place. So, I’ve had to modify my theory in use significantly to be happy in the LDS culture.

That, for me, means believing that one doesn’t have to say “Yes” to everything to acheive salvation, one doesn’t have to move people 12 times a year to be a good Mormon. One doesn’t have to expect leaders to be perfect for the Church to be a good place to be, and that the doctrine of tithing has room for judgment given its nebulous use of the term in the D&C.

“The basis of all science is evolution and this is predicated on the idea of survival of the fittest.”

Or as one cynic put it, “the survivors survived”. Actually it’s not just the fittest which survive. Have a look out there, and I don’t just mean humans.