[extropy-chat] On the communication of moral wisdom

[The Avantguardian]

--- Adrian Tymes <wingcat at pacbell.net> wrote:

> 
> I am not sure that would do much good.  Religious
> types are already used to people invoking passages
> of
> their texts out of context to defend all manner of
> views, and have developed memetic defenses against
> this.  After all, they do it themselves.  ("Even
> Satan
> can quote scripture.")  It might be better to defend
> this from the core concepts that the religions
> share,
> than to seek out specific sayings.

Actually this is exactly what I have planned. It
argues from the theological basis of the religion. It
will only cite specific passages for "color".

> Maybe it would be better to view this as a mod for
> our
> beliefs.  We have a well-developed main version for
> atheists/agnostics, but what about a belief path for
> Christians?  For Muslims?  For Buddhists?  A path
> that
> their minds can follow, which gets them to support
> our
> beliefs without having to uninstall their previous
> memeset - and, indeed, even merging with it to draw
> support.  (Imagine what would happen if a
> high-ranking
> bishop declared that we were created to "play God" -
> responsibly and so forth, since God is not
> irresponsible and punishes those who attempt to
> imitate Him without that crucial component, but
> within
> that limit...)

This is a great idea. Instead of a single essay, I
will write several. Each one aimed at a specific
religion/memeset. Expect Christianity 2.0 soon. 

> Side note: as I've looked at various religions over
> the years, I've noticed that a number of their core
> concepts are the same.  Expressed differently, and
> with some variations to account for the local
> conditions when the religion was founded (for
> example,
> dietary restrictions when eating or raising certain
> animals was a Bad Idea for economic or ecological
> reasons, in an era before economy or ecology were
> known), but mostly attempts to encode basic rules of
> civilization in forms that many people can
> understand.

Yes, these similarities are the moral truths that
validate the exercise of spirituality in its myriad
forms in transhumaism. The rest is mythology but myth
too has some memtic worth else it would have been
forgotten.

> So I wonder...how can one accurately express moral
> wisdom, given the inaccuracies with the most common
> method?  

      I agree this will be challenging. It ought to be
tried anyways most especially considering the
disasters looming on the horizon.
  
> Just something to think about.

     Indeed, you have given me much food for thought.
Thank you.

=====
The Avantguardian 


"He stands like some sort of pagan god or deposed tyrant. Staring out over the city he's sworn to . . .to stare out over and it's evident just by looking at him that he's got some pretty heavy things on his mind."


		
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