On Information, religion and curiosity

[stromboli]

Human beings, us, are the cutting edge of evolution. We have the abilities as a species to communicate between us to share ideas. Other species, primates, have the same ability to a limited degree. A chimp finding a new food source can indicate in a limited way where that food source is. In every tribe or pack there are some animals that are dominant that will direct the pact one way or another. A properly directed pack will be more successful than a poorly directed one.We began sharing ideas with grunts and whistles until we evolved the power of speech and then began using other methods to gather and share information. Information is the key. the development of the ability to communicate led to the development of writing and then the means of sharing ideas over distance. The ability to gain and disseminate information is at the core of human evolution.

We have the ability not only to communicate better through speech and the ability to create language but also to create newer and better ways to do so, from signaling with drums to flashing mirrors to telegraphs, telephones and now the internet. Information gathering and sharing is our primary and key ability. It is what has given us the ability to adapt to different climates and develop new ways to produce food and so on.

A forum is a collective of minds for the sharing of ideas. In so doing we influence each other and spread information across distances, now across the entire earth. But all of us are not just minds with single ideas, we are all multi-taskers to a different degree. consequently we share ideas to other forums or are involved in other work separate from the forum. Each of us is a node, a synapse that shoots ideas in different directions over the internet. Stuff I get from other sources I find useful here I submit, and each of us does the same; in effect, we are joined synaptically by the internet into a hive mind.

The internet, a human creation, is itself evolving. From the beginning a computer was a means of collecting information and disseminating it to a directed purpose. The internet allows the sharing of ideas, just as a forum does, from one synapse to another. We could disseminate information face to face, then in line of sight, then as far as a wire could reach, and now shooting information and ideas across space. We have gone from information sharing in books to television to the internet. We have gone from computer terminals at set locations to terminals on our desks to portable laptops to smart phones to (now) smart watches. We effectively shorten the distance from mind to mind by doing so. Information is the key. Sharing it causes us to evolve collectively, and every other aspect of it feeds into that.

And collectively we advance intellectually through information sharing. And in so doing, we recognize aspects of behavior or social conditions that are wrong and need correcting. In that sense, think of human society as the body and the internet the mind, we see where there are cancers and anachronisms in our society. Religion is one such. Religion is an old vestigial organ that served some function in primitive minds that no longer needs to be there. Any function it served is now redundant, and needs to be excised.

Curiosity is a trait shown in many species. We have taken it to a new level. Why is curiosity built in to us and other species if not to gather information? This to me is the main reason religion is redundant is because it stifles curiosity. Any part religion played in our society is now useless and needs to be discarded, if for no other reason that it stifles curiosity and information gathering.

But why? We don't believe in a higher power. Yet we are in effect the eyes of the universe. We see it. We are the first species on this planet that sees the universe and seeks to comprehend it. We seek to collect more and more information and seek to comprehend how it all fits and goes together.

Nobody knows the ultimate answer, but perhaps without knowing we are indeed blind watchmakers that are learning to see.

[TomFoolery]

Yet we are in effect the eyes of the universe. We see it. We are the first species on this planet that sees the universe and seeks to comprehend it.

I would disagree. The universe would exist even if there were no one there to observe it. There's much that exists beyond what we can perceive as well. I think the notion we're the first species who seeks understanding is also rather elitist.

I think the idea that religion and curiosity must be at odds with one another is also unfair. I can see how it would seem that way from the outside, and more radical evangelists don't do a whole lot to dispel that myth, but for centuries colleges and academia were run by religious orders. Gregor Medel was a monk who wondered why certain pea plants looked a certain way, and thus the field of genetics was crudely born.

There are no doubt those who want to force science to fit a religious mold and reject anything that doesn't, but that's not true of all religions, or all followers of religion.

[Solitary]

All religions are based on faith and ignorance without a shred of reliable evidence by ignorant authority, to pick and choose religious people that have helped science and learning as an example of religion is absurd when they still object to science that goes against their dogma, like evolution unless modified by God, or Creation by God nonsense,  when even science with the big bang theory of creation which is always tentative would never do. Religion is about thinking with God they have all the answers for the unknown and so don't need to look further, which is intellectually dishonest at best, and extremely lazy and arrogant. Solitary