3 ms·

I don't think this is as much of a problem as the majority of hackernews seems to think. Of course, that is controversial to say here, but I was told I shouldn'

by A12-B 6y ago

I don't think this is as much of a problem as the majority of hackernews seems to think. Of course, that is controversial to say here, but I was told I shouldn't be conventional minded. At the end of the day the world is shaped more by material conditions than ideas. That doesn't excuse the cases you're worried about, but I think the majority of violently polarising media will only end up being so because there was already some resource dispute in the first place. It would make more sense, then, to tackle those issues, rather than fruitlessly trying to engineer the human brain to be less susceptible to rhetoric.

nine_k 6y ago
> more by material conditions than ideas I suppose you have heard about religions and faiths. I'd hazard to say that about 1000 years of European history was shaped primarily by them. Major wars fought, new countries founded, major discoveries and inventions made or unmade and prohibited, people's daily lives shaped and defined. A similar thing has been occurring to Arabic world and neighboring peoples for about 1500 years, and is actively continuing now. Looking at the current situation in the US is also illustrative. I would say that ideas greatly prevail over material conditions once immediate survival is secured.
- slavik81 6y ago
  In many cases, the religious conflict is just a pretext for an underlying power struggle. The reformation of the Church of England by Henry VIII, for example, was blatantly a political decision, not a matter of religious conviction.
- A12-B 6y ago
  You underestimate how those ideas are born. More often than not, there is an underlying material pretext. Christianity actually has a lot to say about resources for that very reason. Also, wars are fought over resources and then justified with religion by the select few that start them, primarily.
  - nine_k 6y ago
    I don't think that control of Jerusalem would make a lot of business sense for medieval European states. Still they sent several crusades, each pretty expensive, and mostly failing. Were it not for the special religious status of Jerusalem, they won't care. There were more important trade route chokepoints, and more convenient sea ports nearby, if trade control were the actual agenda.

by A12-B 6y ago

nine_k 6y ago

> more by material conditions than ideas I suppose you have heard about religions and faiths. I'd hazard to say that about 1000 years of European history was shaped primarily by them. Major wars fought, new countries founded, major discoveries and inventions made or unmade and prohibited, people's daily lives shaped and defined. A similar thing has been occurring to Arabic world and neighboring peoples for about 1500 years, and is actively continuing now. Looking at the current situation in the US is also illustrative. I would say that ideas greatly prevail over material conditions once immediate survival is secured.

slavik81 6y ago
In many cases, the religious conflict is just a pretext for an underlying power struggle. The reformation of the Church of England by Henry VIII, for example, was blatantly a political decision, not a matter of religious conviction.
A12-B 6y ago
You underestimate how those ideas are born. More often than not, there is an underlying material pretext. Christianity actually has a lot to say about resources for that very reason. Also, wars are fought over resources and then justified with religion by the select few that start them, primarily.
- nine_k 6y ago
  I don't think that control of Jerusalem would make a lot of business sense for medieval European states. Still they sent several crusades, each pretty expensive, and mostly failing. Were it not for the special religious status of Jerusalem, they won't care. There were more important trade route chokepoints, and more convenient sea ports nearby, if trade control were the actual agenda.