[extropy-chat] Islamic morons win yet again

[Robert Bradbury]

On 9/29/06, John K Clark <jonkc at att.net> wrote:

> Religion exists for 2 reasons, one reason I understand and one I don't.
> Clearly religion would not exist if the fear of death did not exist, but
> there is another much more mysterious reason. How did preachers convince
> people that faith is a virtue? It's very easy to see why some human beings
> would want other human beings to believe this; but how on Earth did they
> convince them that an all powerful and all knowing being thinks the
> highest
> form of virtue is to believe in something when there is absolutely no
> damned
> reason for doing so? There must have been some very sophisticated Meme
> engineering at work to sell that load of crap.


Actually, if you read Dennett's most recent book he postulates a more
complex process.  It has little to do with "fear of death" and much more to
do with "why?", "how?" and power.  Why does it not rain?  Why do the crops
not grow?  Why did all of the antelopes die? etc.  Such questions are tied
up in day to day survival long before death (which happens every in small
tribes with only yearly or monthly frequencies).  The people who can
interpret the "signs" and provide proper explanations increase survival
probabilities and therefore accumulate power.  More power equals more
children.  Not interpreting the signs or not following those who can
identify and interpret them may result in death (fewer or no children).  So
there is genetic selection for those who can lead (even if they are making
stuff up) and those who can follow (at least the good leaders).

Think of the Sahara example I cited.  You are sitting in the middle of
paradise, the climate is changing, you have to do something (migrate, steal,
develop technology, etc.).  Some people are going to come up with ideas.
Others are going to ask why and how?  In cases where there isn't a rational
explanation the leaders make stuff up and resort to a "higher power" to
justify their perspective.  Those who argue (and enforce) such systems best
become the chiefs, witch doctors, Pharaohs, emperors, kings, popes, mullahs,
etc.  As science began to explain more and more -- planetary movement,
climate cycles, earthquakes, volcanoes, meteors, genetic defects, etc. the
realm of the entirely synthetic explanatory systems has grown smaller and
smaller.  About all you can get with now is an "all-powerful" "god" and some
kind of afterlife.  Only the Raelians (that I'm aware of) are generally
promoting a belief system operating "within" science rather than external
to, or in violation of, it.

Robert
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