From: Miriam English (miriam@werple.net.au)
Date: Thu Feb 21 2002 - 19:08:38 MST
I have been wondering why so many of the world's most powerful religions
seem to have been born around the same time. It seems to me that many of
the big religions got much of their power from the birth of writing.
There would have been a special awe for written works back then when the
technology was still new. We tend to overlook this in our world where
written knowledge is commonplace. In those days the idea that knowledge
could be passed on without a human carrying it would have seemed magical.
Up until then all knowledge required a live human to pass it on. Suddenly
these magic symbols can carry the thoughts and knowledge of dead or distant
people! It would have seemed especially magical to those who couldn't read.
Unfortunately that awe for symbols has stayed attached to some of those
early books that represented themselves as divine or magical. People who
are gullible enough to accept the religion meme without question -- on
faith -- anachronistically revere what was once revolutionary technology.
Ironic.
Best wishes,
- Miriam
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To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
http://members.optushome.com.au/miriame
Virtual Reality Association http://www.vr.org.au
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