From: Brett Paatsch (paatschb@optusnet.com.au)
Date: Thu Jun 05 2003 - 08:23:50 MDT
Olga Bourlin writes:
> One more Einstein quote:
>
> "...Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death
> of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through
> fear or ridiculous egotisms."
I wonder then if Einstein would regard those who seek to avoid
total personal annihilation not through religion or superstition but
through the scientific pursuit of life extension, uploading, cryonics
etc as feeble souls and ridiculous egoists?
I don't think most transhumanists would think of themselves as
"feeble souls" and "ridiculous egoists".
I'm an atheist, but the psychology of believing is easier for me to
explain than the psychology of disbelieving. I can see how believing
and hoping for some sort of personal survival and continuance
however irrationally, could be an evolutionary advantage enabling
one to pass on one's genes, yet disbelieving in all forms of personal
continuation seems to be self defeating mechanism more likely to
instil depression and hopelessness.
Historically if there has been a personal upside to atheism for the
atheist I can't see it. It seems to me that not believing in things
without evidence would normally be a benefit to the individual.
But not believing in that which gives one's contemporaries hope
would be a detriment.
Can the phenomenon of atheism be explained as a spandrel? (I'm
not sure I'm using the word spandrel correctly here).
Brett Paatsch
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