From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Sat Feb 27 1999 - 19:47:52 MST
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.
That got started when some ur-theology (argued on grounds of strict
what-passed-for-rationality) became a political issue. You don't need
faith for that to happen (it was a long time before Occam's Razor), you
just need political instincts.
> 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.
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