Eliezer_Yudkowsky: It’s true that the text isn’t particularly beautiful, but its literary greatness can (more plausibly, at least) be defended on the grounds that it influenced other works and historical events, even if those works weren’t good either.
One of the scariest aspects of religion is how it destroys artistic judgment.
Really? That’s scarier than systematically tainting entire generations’ views through all the non-relgious literature they’re they’re taught in English classes?
(Incidentally, I think that in judging current impact of a canonical work, fair comparison requires that you subtract off the people that were forced to learn about it as part of their childhood education when counting how many people enjoyed it. Grand Theft Auto didn’t have that advantage.)
Eliezer_Yudkowsky: It’s true that the text isn’t particularly beautiful, but its literary greatness can (more plausibly, at least) be defended on the grounds that it influenced other works and historical events, even if those works weren’t good either.
One of the scariest aspects of religion is how it destroys artistic judgment.
Really? That’s scarier than systematically tainting entire generations’ views through all the non-relgious literature they’re they’re taught in English classes?
(Incidentally, I think that in judging current impact of a canonical work, fair comparison requires that you subtract off the people that were forced to learn about it as part of their childhood education when counting how many people enjoyed it. Grand Theft Auto didn’t have that advantage.)