Anders Sandberg wrote:
>
> What systems in our brains produce an urge to
> worship, and why? I can't see any obvious evolutionary benefit from
> worshipping.
Atheists get lynched. Cult leaders rake in the cash. End of story.
> As I see it, we need to find ways of making extropianism or
> transhumanism as emotionally fulfilling as it is intellectually
> fulfilling. I think it can be done, but it is an unusual (i.e. new)
> use for psychology and critical thinking to come up with it.
I don't think you can do that without losing the truth. A meme optimized for rationality cannot compete on grounds of emotional fulfillment. Besides, believing something because it's warm n' fuzzy is itself irrational.
-- sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://pobox.com/~sentience/AI_design.temp.html http://pobox.com/~sentience/sing_analysis.html Disclaimer: Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you everything I think I know.