From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net)
Date: Mon Jul 09 2001 - 14:51:41 MDT
L B wrote:
> Hi, all! I got this off the Extropy website and wonder
> at this point what it all means to us. I realize that
> I am pretty green on this list, and that we should not
> all believe everything we read, but I think you
> understand the source and nature my questioning.
[Extropian Principles snipped]
If this is re: debunking religions, the chain of thought appears (to
me) to be roughly:
* I believe the EP are good ideals to follow.
* I believe that a majority of religious powers (not for instance God,
but people whose influsence derives from religion, like the Pope)
see the popularity of ideals like the EP as eroding their power.
* I back this belief up with all kinds of evidence from history.
* I therefore believe that these same religious powers direct their
followers to hate and do bad things to people who believe ideals like
the EP.
* I back this belief up with all kinds of evidence from history, and
from recent statements and - more importantly - actions by these
powers.
* I therefore believe that my belief in the EP puts me in some danger.
* I believe that we are approaching a point where technology, and the
inevitable consequential understanding of the human condition, will
be so advanced as to render obvious the fallacies in these
religious powers' religions, and thus motivate all but a few to
openly denounce all such religions, thus demolishing their power.
* I believe that they are aware of this oncoming time, therefore I
believe that their self interest demands that they do everything
they can to attack technology and those who back it.
* I back this up with their recent statements and actions.
* My belief in the EP makes me a poster child technology promoter,
therefore the danger to my own life will increase significantly,
becoming one of the main dangers to such if it is not already.
* (Some of us believe it is nowhere near that dangerous yet, and
will not be for many years to come. The evidence from recent
events can be argued either way.)
* I do not wish to be in this type and magnitude of danger.
* Therefore, I wish to take action to get myself out of danger.
* Among the options that have occurred to me to resolve this problem,
the most appealing is to hasten the demise of these religions through
making people no longer believe them, thus largely negating the
religious powers' influence.
...which leads to the debate as to how to do such a thing. Personally,
my own thought chain offers a different solution: hasten debunking via
technology, both by exploring how exactly this happens (a good
understanding of science can already offer much immunity from religious
memes) and by getting the relevant advanced technolgies into many
peoples' hands (thus making it easier to obtain said good
understanding, through frequent interaction with demonstrations of the
principles - for instance, experiencing memories copied into one's
brain by purely physical processes, which would not be possible if the
"soul" which contained such was purely nonphysical). A person can be
silenced by a number of means (bullet, court order, inflicted poverty,
etc.); a widely spread meme is more difficult to displace (which works
both for and against us).
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