[ExI] better self-transcendence through selective brain damage

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of spike
...
> 
> ...I do not wish to be anything like L. Ron...made money from religion 
> unethically, deceptively.  The way we would do this is to 
> market absolutely truthfully: as a service for those who are 
> atheists but want euphoric religious experiences... spike

Just after I hit send, I recognized the fatal flaw in this argument.  Did
you spot it?  There are areas of our lives in which we have come so
accustomed to spin and outright deception that we do not even know what the
truth sounds like.  If told the actual truth, we naturally assume some kind
of deception.  Analogy: consider a case where a cop says "Move along
citizens, there is nothing to see here."

Citizens:  Where?

Cop: Here.

Citizens:  What?

Cop: Nothing.

Citizens:  But there is nothing here!

Cop:  Exactly, just what I said.

Citizens:  All right, so what's the catch, officer?...  etc.

Religion and love are two areas where the actual truth is really never
uttered, or if so it fails so spectacularly that it isn't attempted a second
time.  If we could stimulate the religion center of the brain, and tell the
client or patient *exactly* what is being done, and why, and the expected
outcome, that would represent a true scientific and ethical breakthrough.

spike