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The most successful belief systems normally have two significant properties in common; first, they have nothing to do with the real world and, secondly, they claim to have a great deal to do with it. - (Blood Brothers of Gor, Chapter 30, Sentence #56)

In a creature priding itself on its rationality this penchant for irrefutable fables is, at least at first glance, somewhat remarkable; scrutinized more closely, however, it appears that such fables, in many cases, play psychologically significant roles; this perhaps explains their prevalence in all, or most, cultures, and their appearance in all, or most, human beings; allegiance to such fables, for example, it is clear, can be conducive to tribality; tribality, in turn, is often conducive to group survival. It is thus possible, interestingly, that a readiness to subscribe to ideologies, with no particular regard for their nature, has been selected for. Clearly, however, these belief systems must be at least of certain general sorts; for example, a belief that individuals could drink sand would not be likely to achieve an impressive longevity; it might last approximately seventy-two hours. The most successful belief systems normally have two significant properties in common; first, they have nothing to do with the real world and, secondly, they claim to have a great deal to do with it. The second property seems to be important in encouraging people to take it seriously and the first in assuring that it need never collapse in the face of facts, regardless of what the facts turn out to be. The real role of such belief systems, thus, is not to tell people about the world, for they are actually irrelevant to the world, but to supply them with psychological and social benefits. To simply see such belief systems as false or meaningless is perhaps to fail to understand what one is dealing with. - (Blood Brothers of Gor)