Re: Religion & Health

Felix Ungman (felix@objectzone.se)
Tue, 16 Jun 1998 23:39:49 +0100

den Otter (on Transhumanism):
>It certainly has all the elements to become the first truly rational
>religion: life after death(cryonics), transcension(uploading), eternal
>bliss(paradise engineering), sin & evil (entropy, deathism, statism
>etc), armageddon (singularity), ethics (rational ethics of enlightened
>self-interst), art (extropic/transhuman art) and so on. Add to this
>certain socio-political views (like pro-choice, pro legalization of
>drugs and other victimless crimes, tough on real crime, firm atheism
>etc.) and you have a "perfect package", a complete marketable worldview
>that can challenge the existing philosophies at every point. Vacuum
>control, so to speak.

And there's plenty of "rituals": taking anti-oxidants, doing CR,
strengthening the body and mind thru exercise and study, creative
visualization, reviewing your mission statement on sundays, etc.

Anders Sandberg:
> >Which of course suggests that we should seriously think about how to
> >get the benefits from religion without the drawbacks. Most likely any
> >form of comittment that provides a sense of belonging, a positive
> >livable universe where temporary setbacks are just temproary (despite
> >their severity) would have the same benefits. Can transhumanism become
> >a "religion" in this sense, providing the health benefits?

It certainly already is a "religion" in this sense. By studying the
transhuman "bibles" you can get a deep understanding of the universe
and the (trans)human nature in it. This understanding and the commitment
is gives you can't be fundamentaly different from that of the "real"
religions.

FELIX'98 - CITIUS . ALTIUS . FORTIUS