Lucifer: Cheif Technology Officer

In Thinking: Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman decisively argues for a model of human minds comprising two systems. First, a energy preserving autopilot mode which steers us through our environment propped upright by efficient guess work. Second, a high performance expert system that kicks in when System 1 determines that the task it is working on can only be solved by focused thinking and the full participation of the of the pre-frontal cortex. System 1 supports the narrative the System 2 has establish. The narrative is constructed with the big CPU and run on the little cpu to save energy.

Many superstitious persons "believe in the Devil". That is, these folks have been conditioned to the point of imprinting on the equality Devil = a physical object with recognizable features. This framework of belief is then covered by learning the cultural norms associated with Lucifer, Old Dick, Dicken, Sexy Halloween costumes, A Dark Spirit and Dr. Evil. The primary, imprinted idea, manifests itself as a dedicated neo-cortical column, which quickly recognizes by testimony of the senses that the Devil is near.

In an argument from Kandel, the Devil meme-strate has a physical locus of effect manifested by a layered ensemble of optimally interconnected neurons supporting electro-chemical processes, permanently resident in brain hardware as compute means. dedicated to over determining the presence of a man in a red suit with a lanced tail.

The higher purpose of this memestrate is to aid System 1 in quickly recognising signs and portents of the Devil in times of confusion. Don't understand the Theory of Evolution and don't really care to? If you feel really bad about not being able, with the full might of System 2 engaged, to understand what Natural Selection means and failing the mid-term, remembering that science is the work of the devil relieves existential teeth gnashing. The thought that science in general, Charles Darwin in particular are literally true saves time and energy for those incapable of understand science in general and The Theory of Evolution. I am saying the thought is a literal, actual physical phenomena, you just had one, and that is what a belief literally is. It is a rule encoded in wetware. Science is ruled by Satan, the ultimate CTO.

When these people deny Evolution by Natural Selection I am alerted to the fact that I am dealing with a poorly educated person. Thinking about science makes their brain hurt so System 1 forces them down a narrative short-cut. This is a marker for other characteristics of abysmal ignorance but the good news is that for some of these people, especially the people that learned it as a prop because they are lazy and not stupid, there is a solution.

The solution is to work really hard to root out the behaviors that suggest you are stupid and change the imprinting and the conditioning. Repeating "The Devil is a cultural myth" when getting anxious, nervous, and fearful that you might fail the mid-term. Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a powerful app that identifies the things you know that are not true.