Interesting that two people have called me on a vaguely wrong statement about when people run out of food, but nobody’s calling me on the ancient people cringing in desperate fear about abandonment by the gods (which not only did I basically make up, but which I don’t assign higher than 65% confidence to, at least not the way I phrased it)
As long as I’m continuing to refine this, anyone have strong opinions on that?
Mostly, parents don’t abandon children, unless they die, or unless the survival of the parents or other children depend on abandoning some. If gods are just big metaphorical parents, then you wouldn’t be afraid of your god turning its back on you, as much as afraid that your god will die or be overwhelmed by some greater power. Of course, you’d probably never admit that; the external evidence of this fear would probably exist only in the vehemence with which you denied the possibility.
I had considered that someone might respond that way, and still believe what I said is true enough to be worth saying.
I understand that your response above is partly this same “Yes, I’d thought of that” message.
(Updated because my comment above is currently at −1: I don’t think the tendency not to abandon one’s children unless forced to is uniquely “modern”, although of course the modern world sharply limits the number of situations in which the choices are abandoning a child or risking death.)
Interesting that two people have called me on a vaguely wrong statement about when people run out of food, but nobody’s calling me on the ancient people cringing in desperate fear about abandonment by the gods (which not only did I basically make up, but which I don’t assign higher than 65% confidence to, at least not the way I phrased it)
As long as I’m continuing to refine this, anyone have strong opinions on that?
Mostly, parents don’t abandon children, unless they die, or unless the survival of the parents or other children depend on abandoning some. If gods are just big metaphorical parents, then you wouldn’t be afraid of your god turning its back on you, as much as afraid that your god will die or be overwhelmed by some greater power. Of course, you’d probably never admit that; the external evidence of this fear would probably exist only in the vehemence with which you denied the possibility.
I think you’re projecting a modern sensibility about parents and morality. I have some qualms about what I wrote, but not for that particular reason.
I had considered that someone might respond that way, and still believe what I said is true enough to be worth saying.
I understand that your response above is partly this same “Yes, I’d thought of that” message.
(Updated because my comment above is currently at −1: I don’t think the tendency not to abandon one’s children unless forced to is uniquely “modern”, although of course the modern world sharply limits the number of situations in which the choices are abandoning a child or risking death.)