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Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 10:07:03 -0400
To: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Dave Morris <thecat &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: But religion helps solve the problem of the monkeysphere

I read this today:
http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/monkeysphere.html

This makes a very good point about why people act the way they do,  
about how our world is too big for people to relate to each other  
empathically.

It struck me as good point in relation to Danny's arguments against  
atheism. Yes there are problems with religion(s) and people commit  
atrocities in the name of them, but I would argue that more people do  
more good things in aggregate and on average because of religion than  
all of the bad things that religions make them do. Like if they have  
even a vague impression that god is watching all the time, that can  
replace the human empathy which  is effective at making you be nice  
to your neighbors, but which fails when the group is too large, when  
the person who would be hurt is too much of a stranger for the  
community sense of doing good to kick in.   So yes we should temper  
people's religious extremism with reason as much as possible, but in  
the objective of improving the world, trying to dissuade people from  
being religious is really not a good first objective.

So organizing around being atheist isn't really the wisest course of  
action.

Just a passing thought. :-)

Dave