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This is a good piece, and religion does provide an undeniable power to change behavior. However, I think the author is conflating their own intentions with tho

This is a good piece, and religion does provide an undeniable power to change behavior. However, I think the author is conflating their own intentions with those of people who have actually held and maintained power via religion. Over thousands of years, these experiments, carried out in the messy thick of life as opposed to sterile labs, have led to the design of what we might call spiritual technologies—tools and processes meant to sooth, move, convince, or otherwise tweak the mind. I think it's a mistake (and ahistorical) to assume that these methods are intended to improve people's well being. The religions existing in the world today are here BECAUSE they were the most effective at altering peoples behavior. These techniques and rituals are the phenotypes of memetic viruses. Of course that isn't to say they can't be put to good use.

ephbit 5y ago
> I think it's a mistake (and ahistorical) to assume that these methods are intended to improve people's well being. The religions existing in the world today are here BECAUSE they were the most effective at altering peoples behavior. These techniques and rituals are the phenotypes of memetic viruses. I think you're right there. With the world being a constantly subtly (and often dramatically) changing dynamic system ... things that end up withstanding millenia are mostly those that have had more inherent robustness than the alternatives ... and especially with successful organisations, longevity implies rather that they were systems good at using, increasing and conserving their own power and that of their members than that they had good intentions.