[extropy-chat] Intelligent Design: I'm not dead yet

[The Avantguardian]

--- Robert Bradbury <robert.bradbury at gmail.com> wrote:

> It would be interesting
> to know what fraction of
> "wars" that took place over the history of humanity
> were due to conflicts of
> belief systems (i.e. faith based motivations) rather
> than conflicts of
> resource availability (i.e. survival based
> motivations).

These two motives are not as separable as you might
believe and almost every conflict I can think of are a
little of both. Thus faith has always been used to
embolden those under fire and priority over natural
resources is nearly always a matter of divine mandate.
  

> The crusades and
> of course the various Israeli vs. Arab conflicts
> come to mind.  I ask this
> because if even a small fraction of those
> "faith-based" thought machines
> come to the conclusion that transhumanistic ideas
> (or even science in
> general) represent a growing threat to their
> cherished belief systems then
> you can kiss the singularity goodbye.
> 
> Sigh,
> Robert

Or worse yet, fatalistic belief in some divinely
ordained apocalypse will extinguish us before the
singularity can be achieved. It seems that there are
fundamentalists out there (from more than one
religion) who believe that by hastening the end of the
world, they are serving God. Don't lose heart, Robert.
Not all the players have taken the field yet and there
is much yet to be revealed, decisions to be made, and
deeds to be done. The one undeniable truth that runs
through ALL religions is the free agency of mankind.
Thus whether you believe in a creator or not, man and
man alone, will have to decide between the singularity
or the apocalypse.

I do think there are some religions amenable to
recombination with extropian memes. I think that
Intelligent Design makes a great basis for an extropic
religion of reason. I find one of these to be
exceptionally well suited for this purpose. And,
interestingly enough, much of the leg work has been
done already - No reason to reinvent the wheel.

More later. . .


 
 

The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. . ."

- Albert Einstein, "What I Believe" (1930)

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