[ExI] atheism

[Kevin Freels]

________________________________
From: Mirco Romanato <painlord2k at libero.it>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Mon, December 28, 2009 12:33:25 PM
Subject: Re: [ExI] atheism

Il 28/12/2009 1.56, Samantha Atkins ha scritto:
> There is ample evidence that belief regardless of evidence or argument
> is harmful.

Is it so only for religion or for anything?

For example, is the belief of AGW without raw data and methods used to allow replication harmful?
For example, is the belief of the possibility/utility to redeem convict felons without evidence is harmful?
For example, is the belief that all humans have the same moral rights without proof harmful?
For example, is the belief that all humans are equals without proof harmful?
For example, the belief that the government can do better than private enterprises without proof (well, with large proof of the opposite) is harmful?

I think that some belief unsupported by proof are useful for the people believing them. The problem is that so many people use general intelligence and rationality with problems too complex to be solved by simple rationality. It is like trying to compute the trajectory of a stone you throw with your hand and hoping to hit the target, then marveling why an uneducated is better at it.

Mirco



Samantha, I believe that killing you would be wrong, yet I have no proof.............
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