Wednesday, August 29, 2007

On Irony

Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” from her album “Jagged Little Pill” is ironic in that every situation mentioned is not the least bit ironic, at least not in the way the term is used by prescriptivists. Irony can be properly defined as discrepancy between the expected result and actual results. Having read lots of blogs of current and former Mormons, one thing (well, several things, but this post is labeled “On Irony” after all) caught my attention. A lot of former Mormons state ad naseum that the reason they left the Mormon church was their perceived incongruity between the teachings of the church and the ‘empirical evidence.’ That’s all fine and dandy with me. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I believe that religion boils down to pure choice and that any post hoc rationalization of that choice is inherently unjustifiable whether you stay or go. The emphasis on science and empiricism is remarkable because rather than reject the teachings they find unjustified, they embark on a path that is different from what one would suspect. For instance, several former Mormons brag about their inhibitions and ability to drink alcohol, coffee and tea. They also loudly proclaim that their lives are much better now they don’t spend Sunday stuck in a three-hour block meeting. The irony is this: scientific studies show that religious groups that abstain from tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea and illegal drugs tend to have longer life spans than those who don’t abstain from those substances. A lot of people would assume that observant Mormons have, on average, the longest life spans in the United States. They would be completely wrong, however. In actuality, that title belongs to the Seventh Day Adventists, who in addition to forsaking the aforesaid substances, also do not consume meat. As far as church-going is concerned, there are scientific studies that suggest that regularly going to church can increase your life span. The irony of all this, therefore, is why would people who claim to swayed by scientific arguments jettison the beliefs that appear to be scientifically justified?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you are confusing quality of life with quantity.

DPC said...

When it comes to life, quantity is quality!

Anonymous said...

I guess I subscribe to the old adage that "It's better to burn out than fade away." An interesting question though. Thanks for the interesting post.

C. L. Hanson said...

Actually, I've heard corresponding statements from atheists: Apparently the "placebo effect" -- believing that X will heal you -- really does have a non-trivial effect. So there's some advantage to convincing yourself that prayer works, and thus I've heard people say they wish they could convince themselves to believe. But unfortunately in controlled studies prayer is shown to have no effect, making it hard to convince oneself that prayer is really more effective than any other placebo.

In other words, wanting to belive something is true is not the same as it actually being true. It's an interesting take on a belief being "scientifically justified" though... ;^)

DPC said...

I’m not so sure it’s a placebo effect when it comes to going to church and observing religious health codes. I believe that regular church-goers engage less in the sorts of risky behavior that can shorten your life, hence the longer lifespan. Plus I think ascribing anything that relates to a belief in God with a ‘placebo effect’ is a convenient out for atheists. I can see prayer having a placebo effect, but I find it highly unlikely that there is a placebo effect by observing the Word of Wisdom or the attending church, especially when the effect of doing so is so pronounced. I don’t think someone can believe themselves into a longer lifespan.

C. L. Hanson said...

Regarding the "placebo effect," I'm only talking about prayer and faith healing, where studies indicate that a postive attitude, a will to survive, and a belief that you will pull through have been shown to have a non-trivial effect.

Regarding health codes such as the "Word of Wisdom" they certainly do have a physical effect, although it is not certain that the effect is 100% positive since, for example, moderate alcohol intake has been shown to be good for the heart. Regarding religion decreasing "risky behavoir" that is possible, but I'd like to see more stats on it. The latest studies I've seen indicate that juvenile mortality increases with God-belief, lifespan decreases with God-belief.

But really such studies don't say anything at all about whether belief in God is accurate, merely whether it is beneficial for the health.