/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.1272087]

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED why millions of Muslim men are dedicated to killing Americans? Or why so many are willing to blow themselves up to kill Israelis? Or why they are so committed to blowing up random people in Bali, London, Madrid, etc.?

Islamic supremacists are doing this all over the world, attacking Westerners and their own fellow Muslims alike. Why?

Because of a doctrine. A doctrine is a collection of ideas. These could be customs, words, beliefs, etc. A religion is not a single idea; it is a collection of ideas. The collection of ideas that make up the religion of Islam makes Muslims behave and feel as they do.

Collections of ideas compete with each other in the same way that collections of cells (organisms) compete with each other. And because idea-collections compete, and because new ideas can often be added or subtracted from the collection, and because some collections gain more believers than others, collections of ideas can actually evolve.

Let's look at how religious idea-collections evolve and compete. To begin with, let's assume we already have a religion established. It already has a holy book and millions of people are already believers.

And then there is a slight variation.

[Anonymous No.1272093]

The original version had a "live and let live" attitude, and never tried to encourage its followers to get converts. But then someone comes up with the idea that if you can persuade a non-believer to become a believer, you earn some sort of spiritual merit. You are saving souls, and your chances of getting into heaven are better.

Okay, now you have two variations on the same religion: One contains the idea that it doesn't really matter if you get anyone else to join the religion. The other motivates its believers to persuade others to join.

After a thousand years, which of the two variations will have more believers? I'm betting on the motivated-to-spread-it version.

[Anonymous No.1272099]

Let's assume, for the moment, that the motivated version gets far more followers. Does that mean it makes people happier? Or more successful in life? Or have healthier children? No. Just because a collection of ideas successfully gains followers does not mean it benefits any of the people believing those ideas.

The same is true in genetics. Contrary to common sense, a successful gene doesn't necessarily benefit the organism. It is "successful" in the sense that it has made lots of copies of itself and is found in many organisms. But it may actually be harmful for the organism.

For example, if there is a gene for alcoholism, and if drinking causes someone to start having children younger than someone who doesn't drink, over thousands of years, the alcoholism gene might be more successful (the gene makes its way into more offspring) than the non-alcoholism gene, even though it is bad for each individual person carrying the gene.

[Anonymous No.1272104]

Dawkins already wrote a book about memes I thought?

[Anonymous No.1272106]

you know your in /sci/ right, noone gives a shit about religion

[Anonymous No.1272108]

In the same way, the success of an idea-collection doesn't necessarily mean it's good for the people who believe it or follow it.

If an idea-collection says it is wrong to use contraception and wrong to masturbate, over time, that idea-collection would probably be followed by more people than the version that says these things are just fine (assuming people normally teach their children to believe as they do).

So the hapless believer of a particular idea-collection will try to follow the rules and be a good person by avoiding the evils of contraception and masturbation, and what will be the result for him personally? He may have more children than he might want or could afford, causing him to work overtime to support them — working two jobs if he must. This may send him to an early grave, but his effort creates more believers of that particular collection of ideas than someone who doesn't hold those ideas.

[Anonymous No.1272112]

So in a sense, the idea-collection has used the man for its own purposes, or at least that's one legitimate way to look at it. And it's a way that sheds new light on Islamic supremacism, which is why I've spent so much time explaining it.

If you were going to deliberately design a collection of ideas with the purpose of making one that might eventually dominate the world — one that would eventually out-compete every other religion or political system — you would be hard-pressed to do better than Islam.

Let's look at some of the individual ideas within the collection. Many of the ideas enhance each other. In other words, adding one idea to the others can make the whole collection much more effective because some ideas work synergistically.

[Anonymous No.1272118]

Here are some of the key components of the idea-collection known as Islam:

1. A standardized version of the idea-collection is written down. This is something basic to several religions and isn't an Islamic invention, but it is an important factor in the success of Islam.

Something only transmitted orally can change over time, but something written will be identical a thousand years from now, and with modern printing presses, can be reproduced in the millions, giving it an enormous advantage in spreading identical copies of the idea-collection.

2. The Qur'an includes instructions for its own spread. It tells believers they must spread Islam. It is their holy duty to bring Mohammad's warnings and Islamic law to every corner of the world.

[Anonymous No.1272119]

not 1 person is going to read this shit

[Anonymous No.1272123]

http://www.citizenwarrior.com/2009/05/terrifying-brilliance-of-islam.html

[Anonymous No.1272167]

>>1272118
Go on...

[Anonymous No.1272213]

>>1272167

read the article

>>1272123

[Anonymous No.1272251]

>>1272118
you've never read the Koran...have you

[Anonymous No.1272406]