'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
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'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
1–10 of 16 posts
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#2I reckon this "shower thought" could use some workshopping. Religious / metaphysical / supernatural figures almost by definition don't represent the typical opinions of adherents, they being supernatural and all. Perhaps there is a case to be made that they are manifestations of moral aspirations or 'superego' commonalities but it might be hard to make a case that those are the same as mean opinion. Further, concepts of god are conserved concepts passed down from previous generations, so if they represent mean anything they are a lagged moving average mean with a lot of smoothing applied. In even simple societies there are typically some people closer to the god than others, and who interpret or get a greater say (i.e. priest or shaman) on what the nature of god is, so the mean would also be strongly weighted.
Insofar as it is true as written in that you are a dissident if you are in the minority in religious belief, I suppose that's self evident.
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#3Mean but heavily weighted towards the opinions of the powerful and influential
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#4I think God represents the unknown instead of a specific person. God is what is beyond the universe, and no one has any idea what that is or where the universe came from. So we supplant that absence with a named deity.
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#5Define the word tribe with modern terms related to this article
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#6I think God represents the unknown instead of a specific person. God is what is beyond the universe, and no one has any idea what that is or where the universe came from. So we supplant that absence with a named deity.
No, this is a common misconception.
God is not "beyond the universe", He is Creator of the Universe, and as such, intimately connected and involved with it. In fact our understanding of the universe has been quite advanced for millennia; religion didn't "supplant" any "absence" but religion is a science of the supernatural. It is the synthesis of our knowledge about how God has manifested Himself to us.
God is, of course, beyond all our understanding, and we can never fully know Him or His ways, but we can approach that understanding, and hear His voice, and see Him in one another. If you take a look at the universe and study it, you will see how God is manifested in that universe; His fingerprints are all over it; His very breath gives it life.
The Holy Trinity is indeed three specific Persons. It is possible to be very specific and precise and know God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we draw closer to a specific person. We do not draw closer to "the unknown" or an "absence" in the universe. That would be horrific. In fact that is the definition of Hell.
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#7I think God represents the unknown instead of a specific person. God is what is beyond the universe, and no one has any idea what that is or where the universe came from. So we supplant that absence with a named deity.
No, this is a common misconception. God is not "beyond the universe", He is Creator of the Universe, and as such, intimately connected and involved with it. In fact our understanding of the universe has been quite advanced for millennia; religion didn't "supplant" any "absence" but religion is a science of the supernatural. It is the synthesis of our knowledge about how God has manifested Himself to us. God is, of co…
> God is, of course, beyond all our understanding, and we can never fully know
So why “him”, “he” and other patriarchal references if god is beyond all our understanding? Haven’t you just created god in your image?
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#8> Given a person, define “God” to be the mean opinion vector, taken over the members of this person’s tribe.
Most people on the planet would have an opinion that “having more money” is a good thing. Does this mean money is god for most people? Money has the ability to bring power, happiness, peace of mind. It also has the ability to bring suffering, anxiety, worry. All these are things that happen to people who believe in a god or multiple gods.
Instead of looking for shared opinions, it may be better to look at the human condition and the sheer uncertainty of bad events and good events. That things can be, and frequently are, out of our control is what makes people create gods as a support system.
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#9I think God represents the unknown instead of a specific person. God is what is beyond the universe, and no one has any idea what that is or where the universe came from. So we supplant that absence with a named deity.
No, this is a common misconception. God is not "beyond the universe", He is Creator of the Universe, and as such, intimately connected and involved with it. In fact our understanding of the universe has been quite advanced for millennia; religion didn't "supplant" any "absence" but religion is a science of the supernatural. It is the synthesis of our knowledge about how God has manifested Himself to us. God is, of co…
Interesting, thank you for providing that.
It is of course specifically a Christian viewpoint. The article suggests you would have to find another tribe if you were living in a Hindu dominated place.
Re: 'God' is the mean opinion of your tribe
#10> Given a person, define “God” to be the mean opinion vector, taken over the members of this person’s tribe. Most people on the planet would have an opinion that “having more money” is a good thing. Does this mean money is god for most people? Money has the ability to bring power, happiness, peace of mind. It also has the ability to bring suffering, anxiety, worry. All these are things that happen to people who belie…
Most people on the planet would have an opinion that “having more money” is a good thing.
With lots and lots of caveats. Other people having more money isn't necessarily a good thing, having too much money isn't necessarily a good thing, getting that money in a 'wrong' way isn't necessarily a good thing, having more money only to spend it 'wrong' isn't necessarily a good thing etc. etc. Once you encode and average out all those caveats you start getting close to a system of morality that can underpin a religion.