From: arnaldo (arnaldo@apex.net)
Date: Thu Feb 25 1999 - 15:25:34 MST
Yes. Why argue? Man invented gods because of the fear of the unknown... Now that the
Universe is not so unknown as it was for the Neanderthals, what is the excuse?
Maybe the Neanderthals are not extinct after all....
As Einestein would say.... Religion is like opening a door where there is no door!
arnaldo
"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
> Questions like "Is there a God?" are totally irrelevant. Under all
> circumstances. Even if you're debating whether a particular religion is correct.
>
> Maybe the Reality has a "cockpit" that was either pre-occupied or which
> the first Singularity-generating race climbed into. I cannot think of
> any practical choice that binds to exactly this question rather than a
> general version of it, i.e. "Does any entity exist having the power to
> do X".
>
> Atheists who try to "prove" the nonexistence of God are simply being
> silly. Not because they're trying to prove a negative, either. Finding
> or creating God is like inventing antigravity. Maybe God doesn't exist
> and you can't make one. But we're going to keep trying forever, because
> it would be so damn useful.
>
> If some religious authority decided that "Science will never equal (the
> powers we have attributed to) God", you'd be the first to object to the
> idea that some theologian's limited imagination constitutes an ultimate
> limit on sentient life. Likewise, just because you personally don't
> know how to make a God doesn't mean it's impossible.
>
> Romanticizing this fact, or romanticizing God, are equally silly.
>
> Most real arguments focus on the character of God; would an immortal,
> un-evolved, omnipotent, ultraintelligent entity do X? An atheist has
> exactly one argument: "Occam's Razor makes it easier for me to assume
> that your religion was invented by humans." Stick to it.
> --
> 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.
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