I think some of the commentary about religion on LessWrong could use some more genuine humble curiosity. Not the kind of curiosity of “how can someone so intelligent be so mistaken?”, but rather “what are the effects of religious faith and practice on individuals and societies that go beyond simple self deception mechanisms?”, or “Is the persistent belief in god(s) in human history only explainable by ignorance, or does it tell us something important about ourselves?”. I could start to hypothesize about some of these questions if I had time, but I dont right now.
In the otherwise astute community of LessWrong, this has seemed like a persistent blindspot to me that is less about answers and more about framing of questions.
I think some of the commentary about religion on LessWrong could use some more genuine humble curiosity. Not the kind of curiosity of “how can someone so intelligent be so mistaken?”, but rather “what are the effects of religious faith and practice on individuals and societies that go beyond simple self deception mechanisms?”, or “Is the persistent belief in god(s) in human history only explainable by ignorance, or does it tell us something important about ourselves?”. I could start to hypothesize about some of these questions if I had time, but I dont right now.
In the otherwise astute community of LessWrong, this has seemed like a persistent blindspot to me that is less about answers and more about framing of questions.