I’ve said that, word for word. When I actually sit and think about it though, I think it’s more like appendicitis. Religion once served a purpose (passing on of useful cultural norms and expectations), has become vestigial, and is now inflamed and likely to kill us (as a society and individually, in some cases)
The supernatural claims are just a byproduct of the mechanism that passed along the creation myths and cultural norms. It would be great if that wasn’t how it happened, but it did. Rational people can agree at this point that the magical thinking is a net negative for society, but IMO, to ignore that there were some positives to come along with religion is the same sort of blind denial that religious folks use.
It was a collective delusion to soothe ancient fears of a world we could not comprehend
Agreed, but can’t you see that that was an advantage during the formative ages of society and civilization?
Agreed, that’s my whole point. It was not the ideal way to get where we are, but it’s how it happened. There was a… I don’t want to say purpose, but “benefit,” might be the right word.
If we were designing things from scratch, then obviously religion would be left out. But it’s an unfortunate accident of the evolution of consciousness and evolution of civilization that certain societal benefits were included with the magical thinking. Just like the health of the human gut biome is tied to the existence of the appendix, even through the appendix doesn’t provide much in the way of direct benefits these days and can become inflamed and kill us.
Religion in general is a cancer on societal progress.
I’ve said that, word for word. When I actually sit and think about it though, I think it’s more like appendicitis. Religion once served a purpose (passing on of useful cultural norms and expectations), has become vestigial, and is now inflamed and likely to kill us (as a society and individually, in some cases)
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The supernatural claims are just a byproduct of the mechanism that passed along the creation myths and cultural norms. It would be great if that wasn’t how it happened, but it did. Rational people can agree at this point that the magical thinking is a net negative for society, but IMO, to ignore that there were some positives to come along with religion is the same sort of blind denial that religious folks use.
Agreed, but can’t you see that that was an advantage during the formative ages of society and civilization?
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Agreed, that’s my whole point. It was not the ideal way to get where we are, but it’s how it happened. There was a… I don’t want to say purpose, but “benefit,” might be the right word.
If we were designing things from scratch, then obviously religion would be left out. But it’s an unfortunate accident of the evolution of consciousness and evolution of civilization that certain societal benefits were included with the magical thinking. Just like the health of the human gut biome is tied to the existence of the appendix, even through the appendix doesn’t provide much in the way of direct benefits these days and can become inflamed and kill us.
Or a constantly inflamed tissue becomes cancerous overtime, and the theory of field cancerization, much like with celiacs and untreated gerd.