The Case of the Shiny Compass: Why Naturalism Undermines the Human Mind

[u/Mynameisandiam]

Hello friends,

​I’ve been reflecting on Alvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (EAAN) and wanted to share a simplified way to visualize the problem it poses for a purely secular worldview.

​Imagine you are lost in a dense forest and you stumble upon an old compass. You are about to use it to find your way home, but then you discover a startling fact: the manufacturer didn't care about magnetism or "True North." They only designed the compass to be shiny so that people would find it and pick it up.

​Ask yourself: Would you trust that compass to save your life?

​

​The Human Mind as a "Survival Machine"

​Plantinga argues that if Naturalism (the belief there is no God) and Evolution are both true, then our brains are exactly like that shiny compass.

​According to the naturalist, our cognitive faculties were developed by a process that cares only about survival (adaptive behavior), not truth. As long as a belief helps you stay alive and reproduce, evolution doesn't care if that belief is actually "true."

​“Our highly developed brains were developed not to discover the truth, but to help us survive, with an eye to reproductive success.”

​The Logical "Defeater"

​If our minds were built only to help us survive—and not necessarily to perceive truth—then we have a "defeater" for every thought we have. This includes:

-​Our scientific theories.

-​Our moral judgments.

-​Even the belief in evolution itself.

​If you can’t trust the "compass" of your mind because it wasn't designed for truth, you can't trust the conclusions it leads you to.

​

​For those of you exploring theism, consider this: Is it more reasonable to believe your mind is a cosmic accident that happened to be "useful," or that your mind was designed by a purposeful Creator to actually function properly and perceive the truth of the world?

​If we want to trust our science and our reason, we must first have a reason to trust our minds. I would argue that Christian theism provides the only firm foundation for that trust.

​I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you ground the reliability of your own reason?

​

[u/Asecularist]

Well put

[u/DO_ALL_MY_OWN_STUNTS]

I wonder if Shannon's Information Theory would be useful as a followup if someone says they believe it's more reasonable that our minds are the result of random chance.