Vasquez on 16/9/2013 at 05:43
Quote Posted by Nicker
Humans are aware of their own mortality, not just in an animalistic survival sense, though we possess that as well, but in an abstract sense. It is not just the death of our bodies but the extinguishing of our identity which fills humans with dread.
Yep, and to persuade people get killed for "greater good" religion is a handy reward that costs nothing to whoever benefits most from people getting themselves killed. "Yes, the barbarians will probably hack you to pieces, but after that you'll wake up in HEAVEN and live HAPPILY EVER AFTER!"
This reminded me to check what female martyrs of Islam find in Paradise: not 72 hot young men, instead they'll have their... husbands. WTF? "Wo-hoo, I'll be reunited with the nasty, violent old fart I was forced to marry when I was 12 years old!"
And what if the husband was a martyr, too? The wife has to settle living as one wife of 73?
faetal on 16/9/2013 at 10:14
Quote Posted by Yakoob
Alright so albino was poor example but...
This could apply to sense of awe too (minus bein recessive) tho, which is my point. Just because its not detrimental enough to get selected out doesn't mean it's necessarily beneficial either
Nope - awe is a universal human trait, is likely covered by a multitude of genes and if it were recessive, we'd treat people who experienced awe like they were a bit "special".
SubJeff on 16/9/2013 at 13:48
And I think it does serve a purpose; it's the top end of our ability to be impressed. Without the ability to experience such powerful emotions we'd lack a lot of our humanity - love, hate, excitement, fear, awe, wonder - and not form the sort of bonds and societal structure that we do.
There must be some people who don't experience it though. There are always outliers.
faetal on 16/9/2013 at 16:00
I'm sure there are people who can't experience awe, probably due to a psychological or neurological issue. Awe is great for motivation. Would I have become a musician if I hadn't been stunned by music? Would I be a biochemist if molecular biology hadn't blown my mind?
(Me being an ornery, verbose dickhead is my psychological issue - not sure what the benefit of that is)
Nicker on 16/9/2013 at 16:07
Quote Posted by Vasquez
Yep, and to persuade people get killed for "greater good" religion is a handy reward that costs nothing to whoever benefits most from people getting themselves killed.
It's pretty much carte blanche. Once you have convinced someone you not only know what happens after death but that you know the secret to eternal reward or punishment, any other claim you make is gravy.
Queue on 16/9/2013 at 16:23
Even when I was involved in religion, I never truly understood people's fascination/obsession with the idea of an afterlife. For me, the idea of an afterlife totally negates a 'current life'--if all one does in this current life is just practice, or some sort of test to determine worthiness for what's to come later on, then what's the point of being born? All these new lives come into the world and exist just so some sort of determination can be enacted to decide if the spirit will then go on to an afterlife of eternal joy or eternal damnation...seems kinda silly. It's like a bunch of re-spawning AIs in some sort of surreal video game who are placed on screen just so the main player can pass judgement.
Frankly, I don't want an afterlife. This one is annoying enough as it is...I just want a break in the end.
N'Al on 16/9/2013 at 17:03
Amen.
Pyrian on 16/9/2013 at 23:33
"That looks good."
"I'm impressed!"
"AWESOME!"
There's no clear dividing lines, there. A person who lacks the ability to be awed would presumably also lack the ability to see something as basically good, and that would be a fatal flaw.
Renzatic on 16/9/2013 at 23:37
Meh.
demagogue on 17/9/2013 at 00:46
Hmm, awe isn't an core emotion where you look to the limbic system & animals also share it, but an affect that comes out from language, culture, and personality... though some core emotions might be part of the complex, like cowering or frozen fear or total wimpering submission. But once semantics is involved, you bring in a whole social world that varies over time & place. That's not to say it's not still widely shared across civilizations and people too though, it probably is in various forms.
