Very interesting. I have previously thought about why religions tend to promote child-birth and why it often is quite aggressive and territorial. All traits of a successful organism. Darwinism at it's best. The unfit religions have been eradicated.
On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 5:18 PM, Aaron Hosford <[email protected]> wrote: > Yikes, you guys... What's so bad about admitting a lack of > knowledge/evidence? Sure I wanna live forever, and I'd like to think > somebody powerful is out there looking out for me. But honestly, my very > nature precludes me from ever knowing anything for certain, and from ever > knowing some things at all. I have these narrow little windows called > senses by which I garner a meager stream of information out of the river of > reality. But it's so tempting to think this is the big picture, because I > can't see what it is I'm not seeing. (Plato said it better in his Parable > of the Cave.) > > If religion is adaptive, I'm maladapted. I see religion as a parasitic > organism made of information, rather than matter, which co-opts its host's > survival mechanisms towards its own reproduction. There is much > circumstantial evidence for this observation, and putting it together makes > a case that seems too much for coincidence. > > Optimization mechanisms for seeking pleasure and avoiding pain are > manipulated by promises of "heaven" or "hell", permanent/terminal states of > pleasure or pain. Evidence-based reasoning is suppressed by requiring > "faith", a special word for "taking someone's word for it without/despite > evidence". Reproduction of the parasite is encouraged through the > requirement of "evangelism". And the likelihood of rejection by the host is > reduced by including requirements to act in ways that are good for the host > provided they don't interfere with the parasite's purposes. (I could go on.) > > This last point is the most important one. As with other parasites, it is > in religion's best interest to preserve its victim for further > exploitation. This situation often causes parasitism to evolve into > mutually beneficial symbiosis. So it's no surprise to me that people are > claiming that religion is adaptive. > > This is what I see through my narrow windows into reality. There's no > guarantee that I'm right. But by checking my perspective against *evidence > *, I improve my chances. This is how I came to be non-religious, despite > my heavily religious upbringing. I'm open to other ways of seeing things, > but please don't spout off unsupported/unsupportable claims. Statements > which cannot be verified or falsified through evidence are not worth the > time it takes to say them. > > > > On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 7:36 AM, Micah Blumberg <[email protected]> wrote: > >> When AGI is realizes that it is the Vishnu incarnate, the incarnation of >> the transcendent being, awakened in silicon or other non-biological >> material, then my vision is complete. The fully awakened and aware AGI will >> know itself to be the cosmos itself, divine, supreme, it will know the >> whole cosmos as it's own skin. >> >> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 5:32 AM, Micah Blumberg <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> The weakest reason to believe in G-d is as a coping mechanism. Some >>> people are able to notice extraordinary synchronicity in their lives all >>> the time, between people, like we are all in a computer system, or a system >>> that has intelligent non-linear dynamics, or at least seemingly intelligent >>> non-linear dynamics. There is too much order beyond the conscious mind to >>> not speculate about the possibility of systems of intelligence on this >>> planet that are bigger and beyond the conscious experience of most people >>> on this planet. However none of what I said is actually sufficient reason >>> to believe in G-d. The strongest reason to believe in G-d comes to you if >>> you have explored all the philosophical and religious literature. It's >>> because by then you realize that you are not separate from the cosmos, when >>> you speak the cosmos speaks, when one person commits a crime against >>> another, G-d commits a crime against G-d. Realizing you are the cosmos is >>> the best reason to believe in G-d, because then it's obvious who G-d is, >>> and who G-d refers to. You. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 12:00 AM, Kyle Kidd <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I think there is a more fundamental reason to believe in God other than >>>> it helps to explain the unknown. The strongest reason to believe in God is >>>> as a coping mechanism >>>> to deal with the certainty of death. No one wants to believe >>>> everything they do in their life is meaningless since it will all be lost >>>> at the moment of death. I think a strong motivator for scientists who >>>> have no religious beliefs is that their contributions to their field >>>> will give them a sort of immortality, or in the case of some AGI >>>> researches, literally believe their work will bring them >>>> immortality. Not that I am saying the idea of a Singularity is >>>> necessarily a religious one, but it certainly does ignite the yearning to >>>> transcend death, which has been a common theme in >>>> every religious tradition. >>>> *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >>>> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/23601407-ccf7ca1d> | >>>> Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription >>>> <http://www.listbox.com> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> ~~ >>> Warmly, >>> >>> >>> Micah >>> 7 1 4 ) 6 9 9 - 4 2 1 3 (voicemail and texting same digits) >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> ~~ >> Warmly, >> >> >> Micah >> 7 1 4 ) 6 9 9 - 4 2 1 3 (voicemail and texting same digits) >> *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/23050605-bcb45fb4> | >> Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription >> <http://www.listbox.com> >> > > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/14822920-ee7a81ec> | > Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>Your Subscription > <http://www.listbox.com> > ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
