Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos  What are you talking about? Why does physicalism need to argue that at all? And why are you looking at evolution from one side only? It's not that there is an advantage to us remaining sick, it's that there is an advantage to the disease agents in keeping us sick. |
Paul that sounds curiously like holism and you are a physicalist? I don't know what you mean .....I think you have missed the point, I was asking how the placebo effect could have evolved....
If our immune system can destroy the bacteria more effectively, why does it hold back and wait for a pill, belief or hope to work better? It seems like nature/immune system is rewarding feelings of belief, faith, positivity and hope (placebo effect?) and punishing feelings of despair and disbelief (nocebo effect?) , how did this evolve (or emerge as a byproduct) via natural selection? What is the chemical formula of hope? How do we program it into a computer?