RE: Proof that God exists
January 17, 2018 at 5:51 am
(This post was last modified: January 17, 2018 at 6:52 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Or maybe it was just super boring before the internet. Or maybe cripples who couldn't hunt needed to earn a living somehow. Tell a story, shake a cup. The state of religion today strongly indicates that the latter has always been -some- portion of "why religion exists", and what purpose it may have served in the foggy past. 
Not for nothing..but fervently religious societies also show an incredible aptitude for killing off the other guy..which is a powerful advantage all to itself. People commonly mistake the terminology of evolutionary benefit as something beneficial in a positive sense....but that's not the case at all. All that would have to happen for religion to be over-represented as a matter of "evolutionary explanations" is that more religious people be left standing...and this can easily be due to the simple act of killing off and/or ostracizing the irreligious outliers and nonconformists...for centuries...this is going to have an impact on their rates of reproduction..and, consequently, how many children are born atheists, raised as atheists and continue to be atheists. It's notable how quickly a meaningful atheism seems to materialize, out of thin air, whenever some oppressive theocratic regime falls - and also how quickly those people seem to disappear when it regains it's authority.
Or...and this is my favorite..in the case of catholicsm it's even easier. The Mighty Cathol instructed catholics to fuck like rabbits and make a bunch of little catholics. They were going to breed their way to a solidified position of power. That there are now a bunch of little catholics..isn't indicative of any use for religion, then or now... only that the religious themselves have been used.
Goodness, I almost forgot the null hypothesis. That religion -doesn't- and never did have any evolutionary purpose or benefit whatsoever. That it;s an artifact of a succesful species of professional sentence blurters who -sometimes- make sounds about gods. That's how defects propogate in spite of evolutionary or selective pressure. They piggyback. Genetic disorders attached to an otherwise advantageous genome....we have a shitload of those..... in fact everything does. That our brains are susceptible to divine asshattery is more than compensated for by what our brains provide us. Related (or naturally inextricable) genetics that makes a crop super sweet can also make it super susceptible to disease pressure. It's the sweetness that causes us to clearcut a forest and plant more of it. That's the advantage. That's why that cultivar is over represented in the gene pool. Not the increased disease pressure. That shit is beyond useless...it;s actively counterproductive...and, tellingly (imo), so is this "god" business.
Not for nothing..but fervently religious societies also show an incredible aptitude for killing off the other guy..which is a powerful advantage all to itself. People commonly mistake the terminology of evolutionary benefit as something beneficial in a positive sense....but that's not the case at all. All that would have to happen for religion to be over-represented as a matter of "evolutionary explanations" is that more religious people be left standing...and this can easily be due to the simple act of killing off and/or ostracizing the irreligious outliers and nonconformists...for centuries...this is going to have an impact on their rates of reproduction..and, consequently, how many children are born atheists, raised as atheists and continue to be atheists. It's notable how quickly a meaningful atheism seems to materialize, out of thin air, whenever some oppressive theocratic regime falls - and also how quickly those people seem to disappear when it regains it's authority.
Or...and this is my favorite..in the case of catholicsm it's even easier. The Mighty Cathol instructed catholics to fuck like rabbits and make a bunch of little catholics. They were going to breed their way to a solidified position of power. That there are now a bunch of little catholics..isn't indicative of any use for religion, then or now... only that the religious themselves have been used.
Goodness, I almost forgot the null hypothesis. That religion -doesn't- and never did have any evolutionary purpose or benefit whatsoever. That it;s an artifact of a succesful species of professional sentence blurters who -sometimes- make sounds about gods. That's how defects propogate in spite of evolutionary or selective pressure. They piggyback. Genetic disorders attached to an otherwise advantageous genome....we have a shitload of those..... in fact everything does. That our brains are susceptible to divine asshattery is more than compensated for by what our brains provide us. Related (or naturally inextricable) genetics that makes a crop super sweet can also make it super susceptible to disease pressure. It's the sweetness that causes us to clearcut a forest and plant more of it. That's the advantage. That's why that cultivar is over represented in the gene pool. Not the increased disease pressure. That shit is beyond useless...it;s actively counterproductive...and, tellingly (imo), so is this "god" business.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
