I'm less optimistic really. If a species has the ability to believe shit like religion, they have the ability to hold on to it. Even in Star Trek, lots of the space travelling planets still had religious beliefs.

(September 11, 2013 at 4:01 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Even in Star Trek, lots of the space travelling planets still had religious beliefs.

Talking about religious faith in star trek.

(September 11, 2013 at 3:58 pm)Chuck Wrote:

(September 11, 2013 at 3:54 pm)Heir Apparent Wrote: By that point I would also hope that as a "human race" we would have agreed that religion isn't getting us anywhere (and fast!) and advancement is far more important.

Members of human race instinctively try to screw the race in order to get ahead within the race. This is why "profit maximization" is considered a much more realistic objective function in economic modeling than "global optimization".

Oh definitely. Don't get me wrong, I hold no illusions as to the greed and power grabbing tendencies of humans. That's why I employed such phrases as "I would hope."

Because really, I'd put my money on global destruction or monopoly before unity.

(September 11, 2013 at 4:01 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Even in Star Trek, lots of the space travelling planets still had religious beliefs.

So like tribbles are Gene Roddenberry's version of Catholics? (Multiply and conquer?)

(September 11, 2013 at 6:50 pm)Captain Colostomy Wrote:

(September 11, 2013 at 4:01 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Even in Star Trek, lots of the space travelling planets still had religious beliefs.

So like tribbles are Gene Roddenberry's version of Catholics? (Multiply and conquer?)

Great analogy! Let's add "mindless" as an apt qualifier!

(September 11, 2013 at 4:15 pm)Chuck Wrote:

(September 11, 2013 at 4:01 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Even in Star Trek, lots of the space travelling planets still had religious beliefs.

Talking about religious faith in star trek.

lol it is funny but if you actually think back earth (us) had put religion behind us after the world collapsed and in the aftermath went with science forward to space and built a federation on inclusion not segregating based on faith.

Maybe it was Gene's way of saying grow the fuck up.

I imagine they would if they're anything like us. If there is an entirely true revealed religion then there would have to be one true religion per planet, perhaps God would incarnate on each one or something. The problem is the religions we have were all developed before we had a concept of aliens with the exception of Scientology. God could easily made a mention of them somewhere in a holy text so they're little conspicuous by their absence. The Vedas may mention them but this is unclear.

(September 12, 2013 at 10:25 am)gall Wrote:

(September 11, 2013 at 4:15 pm)Chuck Wrote: Talking about religious faith in star trek.

lol it is funny but if you actually think back earth (us) had put religion behind us after the world collapsed and in the aftermath went with science forward to space and built a federation on inclusion not segregating based on faith.

Maybe it was Gene's way of saying grow the fuck up.

Yuo overlook the efficacy of "muddling through", which had been the one and only method by which humanity as a whole has survived each and every one of the challenges and dangers that faced it. Undoubtedly we will continue to rely on muddling through for the foreseeablw future, and religion will undoubtedly retain its position amongst the constituents of the muddle.

(September 16, 2013 at 12:37 pm)Chuck Wrote:

(September 12, 2013 at 10:25 am)gall Wrote: lol it is funny but if you actually think back earth (us) had put religion behind us after the world collapsed and in the aftermath went with science forward to space and built a federation on inclusion not segregating based on faith.

Maybe it was Gene's way of saying grow the fuck up.

Yuo overlook the efficacy of "muddling through", which had been the one and only method by which humanity as a whole has survived each and every one of the challenges and dangers that faced it. Undoubtedly we will continue to rely on muddling through for the foreseeablw future, and religion will undoubtedly retain its position amongst the constituents of the muddle.

I disagree that on a longer timeline if we had to muddle through most of the population dying and the rest being isolated that we would bother.

Only time will tell but I know I would rather eat than pray and most people probably would follow me if I lead them to food over the other guy their leading them to their knees.

Muddle all you like and while you do others around you are trying to steer it where they want it and you might not like where that takes us.

If you think starvation make large segments of the population less, rather than more, susceptible to predation by cults and religions, then you need to review more closely human social behavior in time of survival crisis. When in crisis, most societies tend to lapse into embracing whatever give them emotional comfort and familiarity without killing them too directly, and will do so at the expense of fundamental solutions to problem that led to the crisis in the first place.

Religion didn't survive and prosper by failing to dovetail with this behavioral tendency of human population in crisis.