Comment we may only have four limbs, but ... (Score 1) 234
i was discussing religion with a relative the other day
following that discussion i had a thought:
the idea of a big ol' God is just one of the termite arches they mention in the essay
humans are termites, in a way
we are all built out of the same stuff - the DNA and the collective upbringing of our young, generation after generation, in a society built out of the same kind of units the young are supposed to become one day themselves
so there's this uniformity spanning all of it
i'm not surprised the folks back in the day thought there was something larger controlling all of it: it's there allright. but it's not controlling anything per se, it just makes things happen that are more likeley to happen than other things
people get angry over territory, they take pride in accomplishing something, they develop and act on feelings inside each unit
so if you tack a name onto this thing
you have god.
you have an arch.
you have something very, very large.
now the question is: is it any good? is it valid for some purpose or other? do we need it? do we need a God program?
i don't think so.
i also read Richard Feynman's "Cargo Cult Science" paper someone posted a link to here
if my theory on how the idea of religion came into existence to begin with (partly) is true - we got it all wrong. god isn't something that is controlling anything - it's merely an image of a certain bearded man who was a celebrity 2000 years ago you might happen to see if you were to look down at a city from high above and squint your eyes, or on a tortilla or as a rust spot
so what might happen if this mob software theory would actually be *performed*, we could get a gargantuan something that could possibly pass for something useful if we'd squint our eyes all together now.
but:
another thing might also happen.
have any of you actually read a byproduct of this phenomenon i talk about earlier: the bible?
i think most of you will agree that it is a spectacular piece of literature.
a child of its time, indeed, but i think the Bible will be a hell of a better read in two thousand years than listening to Wham songs will be - a recent example of a child of its time.
how was the bible created?
by a mob.
a mob who had the motivation, the general goal.
to create a work of praise, to create a compilation of guidelines, laws and explanations to those guidelines and laws, to build something that would last and be good.
to make the mob model work, you wouldn't try to create a god.
you'd write a bible.
i'm not sure all of these ideas are coming out correctly
my english is getting a little slippery - it's 4:36 in the morning and i wouldn't be surprised if this got rejected because of the sheer length of it.
but i started thinking. and that's always good.
following that discussion i had a thought:
the idea of a big ol' God is just one of the termite arches they mention in the essay
humans are termites, in a way
we are all built out of the same stuff - the DNA and the collective upbringing of our young, generation after generation, in a society built out of the same kind of units the young are supposed to become one day themselves
so there's this uniformity spanning all of it
i'm not surprised the folks back in the day thought there was something larger controlling all of it: it's there allright. but it's not controlling anything per se, it just makes things happen that are more likeley to happen than other things
people get angry over territory, they take pride in accomplishing something, they develop and act on feelings inside each unit
so if you tack a name onto this thing
you have god.
you have an arch.
you have something very, very large.
now the question is: is it any good? is it valid for some purpose or other? do we need it? do we need a God program?
i don't think so.
i also read Richard Feynman's "Cargo Cult Science" paper someone posted a link to here
if my theory on how the idea of religion came into existence to begin with (partly) is true - we got it all wrong. god isn't something that is controlling anything - it's merely an image of a certain bearded man who was a celebrity 2000 years ago you might happen to see if you were to look down at a city from high above and squint your eyes, or on a tortilla or as a rust spot
so what might happen if this mob software theory would actually be *performed*, we could get a gargantuan something that could possibly pass for something useful if we'd squint our eyes all together now.
but:
another thing might also happen.
have any of you actually read a byproduct of this phenomenon i talk about earlier: the bible?
i think most of you will agree that it is a spectacular piece of literature.
a child of its time, indeed, but i think the Bible will be a hell of a better read in two thousand years than listening to Wham songs will be - a recent example of a child of its time.
how was the bible created?
by a mob.
a mob who had the motivation, the general goal.
to create a work of praise, to create a compilation of guidelines, laws and explanations to those guidelines and laws, to build something that would last and be good.
to make the mob model work, you wouldn't try to create a god.
you'd write a bible.
i'm not sure all of these ideas are coming out correctly
my english is getting a little slippery - it's 4:36 in the morning and i wouldn't be surprised if this got rejected because of the sheer length of it.
but i started thinking. and that's always good.
