[ExI] Space and religion are the likeliest pathways out of decadence: Ross Douthat

[Keith Henson]

> On Mar 7, 2020, at 6:33 AM, John Clark via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

snip

> Even if I'm wrong about religion conferring no net positive value to society,

The tendency to get a religion is so common that it must have been
under positive selection pressure at some time in the past.  Not
necessarily for religion per se.  It could be a trait selected for
something else (like war) that makes people vulnerable to religions.

But even taking religions as pure parasitic memes, the first thing any
parasite does is protect its host from other parasites.  Or, as I have
said for ages, it's better to be have a well aged religion than to be
susceptible to fatal cults.


Keith