Monday, November 26, 2012

A New Religion

Dear John,

I couldn't tell if you were serious or not, but since I was, I figured I'd continue the thought here. That way I don't clutter up your space.

Of course the pigmen should be run through and put on the spit, so I'll continue the thought in that vein.

Morality has a time component. If you're hunting rabbits in the forest to eat, and being hunted by bears, you probably have a limited time frame for not destroying the world, what with self-preservation and all.







If you're a poor subsistence farmer in China, or an impoverished single mother in some shit town in Mexico, well, it's probably reasonable to have a moral time horizon of a couple generations, hoping for your kids and their kids to have a better life.

Which brings us to the wealthy class. These fuckers have the luxury of at worst an incredibly blessed existence. And yet, they seem to have a moral time horizon that can be measured in years, if not fiscal quarters.





Obviously, this is unacceptable.

So, those of us with wealth, education, and no real danger of imminent death or even long-term discomfort in any practical sense are obligated to have a longer moral time horizon.





I'd say 1000 years is a pretty good starting point for the least of us, but it's pretty unimaginative.  I'd hope a 10,000 to 100,000 year time horizon for a moral framework and planning would be a solid basis for modern, secular religious/moral life.

That way, we can start working on asteroid defense systems, colonizing Mars (a la Elon Musk,) and maintaining and enriching our environment for future generations and some sense of aesthetic beauty.

See, I think that as a species, Cnu's Edo Period stasis can't be done for its own sake, it needs a religious, visionary component.
 




To make a cohesive, cross-cultural value set take hold, it needs to be rooted in a great and powerful vision. With a moral framework in mind (i.e. we are colonizing space and building a stable biosphere and feeder system on Earth, social status is defined by a merit based system with these goals as the measuring stick,) you can justify lopping the heads off of loafers, liars and losers.

So, I propose a 100,00 year grand plan, with 10,000 year stage goals and 1,000 year checkpoints that define individual eras within that grand scheme.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/science/11nuclear.html?_r=0


A new religion? I don't know.

10,000 year goal: Colonize near space. Maximize genetic adaptions.
1,000 year checkpoint: Stabilize the biosphere and develop the moral authority to enforce the grand vision. Colonize the moon and Mars.

It's a start.


 p.s. Also, quite fun to write posts again instead of just repost, so thanks for telling me to fuck off!

Best,
John

6 comments:

  1. Careful with that "moral" axe Eugene!!!

    http://www.blubrry.com/gnosticmedia/1160905/prof-carl-ruck-interview-pt-3-mushrooms-myth-mithras-the-drug-cult-that-civilized-europe-122/

    It's not enough that people be "given" something new and ultimately unsatisfying to "believe" in - rather - if you want to reform culture at all levels, it is imperative that people be given the direct experience of the ground of conscious(moral) praxis.

    Everything else is merely conversation...,

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  2. This is a good and trivially accessible read. The objectives you describe, depend on a shift in consciousness, and there is only one sure way to shift human consciousness.

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  3. DD,

    I was serious. I also realized 1,000 years is not nearly enough almost immediately after I published the comment, and yes, the only way to get things fixed up, using methods that ain't broke yet, involves a religious component. This is not to say we need all the trappings, although they do tend to accrete (why even Buddhism couldn't avoid it!), but we do need a Barbarian Code, as my brother put it. Even if people don't Believe, there are still some things that are Sacred. Life, Land, and Loved Ones. It's simply a matter, as you put of expanding the imagination to be more inclusive as to whom gets to be in the tribe. I LIKE your idea of a 100,000 Year Project. You want a motto for it? "I'm on board. How may I help?"

    (P.S. Don't take the "fuck off" personally. It certainly wasn't meant as such. After the age of 50, it becomes an instinctive reaction to say it!)

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  4. So what we're talking about here is not a "new" religion at all, rather, we're talking about a return to genuine religion and a most profound alteration of the individual/collective/respective relationship to time itself.

    To make a cohesive, cross-cultural value set take hold, it needs to be rooted in a great and powerful vision. With a moral framework in mind (i.e. we are colonizing space and building a stable biosphere and feeder system on Earth, social status is defined by a merit based system with these goals as the measuring stick,) you can justify lopping the heads off of loafers, liars and losers.

    Cross cultural value sets are rooted in shared experience, not sermonizing about experience, not sharing the spirit of some talking-head sermonizing - rather - direct, shared experience.

    Everything else is lol...,

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  5. John tickles me with his clear-eyed view of what's been done, and in fact got me to thinking quite hard on that subject.

    Before we commence to extolling the virtues of Elon Musk, I'm about 99% certain there needs to be a hugely empowered "truth and reconciliation" tribunal to ascertain and disclose the current state and scale of what's already been done. See, I don't think that that red-bull stratospheric jump was a pure publicity stunt. I know for damn sure it wasn't a publicity stunt when it was first undertaken 50 years ago.

    I often wonder why TPTB go through these staging socializing motions - particularly when it pertains to research and development that was funded by public monies.

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  6. I'll read the links and post more later. No offense taken John! This is a full-contact league of gentlemen.

    I suppose a Borg collective/psychotropic plugin may be helpful, but establishing a clear, cross cultural imperative based on the idea that morality is enhanced the further out it can reach on the time axis, without descending into nihilism, is the goal.

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