The Mystics of Progress (2023)

Post by mathoff » Tue, Aug 27, 2024, 9:43 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #4

It may go completely against the rational point of view, which says people are utterly insignificant, but can’t we just pretend that we are? This is a typical viewpoint from self-described "rational people" (which is always a red flag, side note) and is more of a consequence of historical ideas, ironically many of which have their roots in the religious beliefs the rationalists are supposedly escaping from. As a quic…

> one of the most difficult problems facing Western/global civilization is the construction of a belief system that understands this flaw of nihilism and presents a strong argument for the alternative, factoring in scientific knowledge

Do you have any suggestions for this future belief system?

Post by keiferski » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:50 AM UTC

mathoff wrote: post #11

keiferski wrote: post #4

It may go completely against the rational point of view, which says people are utterly insignificant, but can’t we just pretend that we are? This is a typical viewpoint from self-described "rational people" (which is always a red flag, side note) and is more of a consequence of historical ideas, ironically many of which have their roots in the religious beliefs the rationalists are supposedly escaping from. As a quic…

> one of the most difficult problems facing Western/global civilization is the construction of a belief system that understands this flaw of nihilism and presents a strong argument for the alternative, factoring in scientific knowledge Do you have any suggestions for this future belief system?

Ah it’s such a huge question that I couldn’t even begin to answer it in a HN comment. I think you’d need to study the collective knowledge of religion and science as background.

Where I would start, though, is by trying to “re-center” humanity in the universe in a way that is logically and scientifically justifiable, against the widespread belief that we’re just lost in space. If you could do that, you’d have a strong step toward making the life of an average person have a kind of cosmic significance that was more prevent in older religious times.

Nietzsche is good reading for this, as I think he correctly diagnoses the issue. His solutions are a bit vague or too personal and not systematic enough though.

Re: The Mystics of Progress (2023)

Re: The Mystics of Progress (2023)