X-Message-Number: 19335
References: <>
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 14:05:24 +0200
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Re: Americans "Left Behind" intellectually

>http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,265345,00.html
>
>A TIME/CNN poll finds that more than one-third of Americans say they are
>paying more attention now to how the news might relate to the end of the
>world, and have talked about what the Bible has to say on the subject. Fully
>59% say they believe the events in Revelation are going to come true, and
>nearly one-quarter think the Bible predicted the Sept. 11 attack.
>
>---------------------------------------

This can be seen as a reaction against the scientific worldview, which has
undermined the traditional myths in the Abrahamic religions. These myths
have given meaning to people's lives for thousands of years and now there
is an attempt to force the world to conform to these outdated myths.

One aspect is the "War on Terror", which is really a war on Islam. This
strengthens religious identities, thus stabilizing them as sources of
meaning.

Another is the rejection of arms control agreements, which is triggering a
new arms race and is increasing militarization in general.

The internal effect of anti-terrorism legislation is the crushing of
peaceful dissent, making terrorist attacks more likely, which justifies
more repressive legislation, etc. Human rights, and particularly
information rights, are being eliminated on a grand scale.

There has been an increase in the murder rate by 3 percent in the US. This
is the first increase in over 10 years and can be seen as an effect of
increasing economic hardship or of the demonstration by government that
violence is an appropriate solution for disputes.

Finally, we can see in the US, at least, the promotion of traditional
religious societies and traditional marriage by Federal Government economic
measures.


>
>If this sort of myth-information is contaminating the American people's view
>of the future, it's probably contributing to the general lack of interest in
>conquering aging and death.  It's still WAY too early to refer to something
>like an "evolutionary stampede" towards Transhumanism.  Transhumanism's
>natural generational constituency may not even be born until after the Teens
>or Twenties in this century.

It is not a matter of time. It is a question of promoting a new worldview
in keeping with modern technological possibilities.


dss



-- 
David S. Stodolsky, PhD    PGP: 0x35490763    

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