Robert Wright: The Evolution of God (Tapestry)

[Aggie]

Recommended for the skeptical types, especially.

Interview with author Robert Wright.  His book The Evolution of God looks at how human ideas of god have changed over time, and draws some strange implications.  Interesting concept - this one's a bit of a brain-twister:

The god - per se - that you're imagining probably doesn't exist. On the other hand, as there is movement in the way we imagine god, we may be getting closer to the truth.

The fact of this kind of moral progress in the imagined god is itself evidence that there may be a larger purpose unfolding.

Click to listen with Quicktime, right-click to download mp3:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/tapestry_20090913_20114.mp3

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Mmm...

I just listened to the whole thing and I see some nice things and some stuff a bit harder to swallow.

He claims that while the classic definition of god is deeply flawed, there might be reason to believe that there is a moral purpose to the existence of life. The big irony here is that such pretense is both nice (tolerant, ie: believers are entitled to their beliefs) and at the same time he may be taking a leap beyond reason while claiming it (which is why I find it hard to swallow).

In my mind, the only purpose of life is to keep existing and with a growing human society, morality becomes a necessity for our existence, in consequence we adjust our culture to have said morality. My point is that there is no need of a mystic purpose in order to have morality. More so, I would contend that the base of said morality is already built in (as empathy) since we are social animals (and we see empathy in other social animals too).

Mysticism* itself is to me a completely different ball of wax, one that IMO should have a rational explanation (be it from this three-dimensional universe or not), and something that to me, doesn't necessarily relate to any deity.

*here I refer to what is experienced on deep meditation.

Edited for grammar.

[Opsa]

(Note: posted simultaneously with Zono)
I think we are moving toward a different idea of spirituality. I think that's what all this 2012 business is all about. It will be the end of an era and the beginning of a new era.

Some have said that it's the end of the world, and it is, but maybe not as people fear. It may not be dramatic at all. It may only be a tiny tick over from generally accepted previous thinking to  a new way of thinking. It may be just one person more suddenly deciding the think in a better way. Probably we won't realize the change for some time. This is how evolution works; a little at a time.

If we make it a positive thing, it will be. This is our challenge.