Cosmic Perspectives and the Myths We Need to Survive

Abstract

Like all organs, our brains have evolved to help us survive. They have evolved to see the world in useful ways that promoted the survival of our ancestors. This presents scientists with a dilemma: we are looking for the truth, but the Darwinian truth about evolution suggests that when useful survivalpromoting fictions conflict with the truth, we can prefer the useful fictions. How can we scientists insist on the truth when the same brains that are searching for truth sometimes prefer useful fictions for perfectly legitimate scientific reasons that Darwin helped us understand.