You are ignoring the big picture though, aren’t you? It is not simply about the individual, it is also about how the individual interacts in society. What we believe affects how we participate in the group.
But for the group (humanity) to be fulfilled and to 'advance' we need the variety of individual cognition. And so a balance, or compromise, must be struck between the individual and the collective. We can believe as we choose, but we cannot behave as we choose. However, even our behavior must be open to individual choice enough for it to be effective (so as to know what the effects, are). Though not so open that it threatens to destroy the collective's cohesion.
You seem to agree that we must have a broader view than simply meeting the needs and wants of any one particular individual.
We must have both views in mind, most of the time. Fortunately, as humans, we are able to do this if we are willing.
You have not established that the gods myth is the only placebo belief system that will satisfy or meet the needs that you say are being met with current placebo beliefs.
I don't have to. You are not in charge of judging that, and neither am I. There are many 'belief systems' that can and do help people live better and happier lives. And they decide what they are, and which they choose. Our part, as members of the collective, is only to help the collective decide when the actions of people predicated by some belief system or other must be curtailed for the well-being of the collective.
You also haven’t acknowledged that the gods myth placebo is common simply by the fact that that is the reference frame that is widely taught or indoctrinated during development.
It doesn't matter. The people in any given collective will decide for themselves what belief system they choose to support, collectively, and which they will choose to discourage. As is their prerogative. As some systems will better support the well-being of the collective while others will better support the well-being of the individual. And the collective will decide which it prefers.
Our collective supports and encourages capitalism when it has proven to be very damaging to both our individual and our collective well-being. Our collective has also chosen to support and encourage selfish individuality even to the point where it threatens to destroy the well-being and cohesion of the collective. These are not logical choices. They are dangerous, socially toxic choices. And yet they are the choices our collective has determined to encourage and support. Humanity will find out how wise or unwise these choices were, in the end. And if we survive them, we will learn from it.
We both seem to agree that mere belief materially affects how one feels and how one behaves, but it is a double-edged sword. Let’s take the extreme example of the Heaven’s Gate cult who, in 1997, believed that the Hale-Bopp comet masked the detection of an alien spacecraft that was on its way to earth. They believed that if they committed suicide at the comets closest approach, they would leave their bodily containers, enter the alien spacecraft and it would take them through Heaven’s Gate into a higher existence. This mere belief had a profound effect on the reality of the 39 suicide victims and on the reality of any friends and family they may have had.
We can and should ask whether there are better options possible than what we are currently doing. To disagree would be like llike saying a peasant should be happy with its lot in life because that is simply the way it is and how it has always been. You often talk of not limiting possibilities, yet you insist on remaining fixed in the current system. I don’t get that.
The Heaven's Gate people could and did consider the options. And they chose the one they did. The rest of us reject that option because from our perspective, the results were detrimental. Their error did the rest of us a service. It showed us how and why we need to be vigilant over our own 'belief systems'. And especially vigilant regarding adopting the belief systems of others so that we no longer have to think for ourselves.
Even if we could have stopped those people from adopting their belief system (we couldn't), we are all better off for their having had the right and ability to make and follow their choice.
I’m going to pass on debating whether psychedelic drugs cause hallucinations or open windows into an alternate reality. Maybe we can take that up another day. I think you can guess my short answer.
There is no debate to be had, as there is no way for us to know. It simply becomes another 'belief system' option for us to choose from.
