very well said. when we think, "Oh, humans aren't animals..." one becomes susceptible to all manner of self-deceptions. being cognizant of our frailties can instead engender some humility and non-fakey compassion.
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Indeed. Humanity's biggest blunder was convincing ourselves that we are gods (or Buddhas, for that matter).
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excellent. and note that this isn't a purely academic concern. it can be argued that dreamy fantasies of being special semi-divine beings looked over by a loving creator have kept us in an infantile state.
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Oh absolutely. I'm agnostic/open to the possibility that it's actually done some good in the past (i.e. we needed to go through childhood to grow up). But it's about time we grow the fuck up.
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what do you think are some of the major impediments to awakening to our self-destructive patterns, whether as individuals, societies, or as a species?
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That's a loaded question. I think it largely comes down to ideologies and the perceived need to have opinions in general. Our need to be "right", be it philosophically or ethically. But I could be wrong. I think
@Meaningness' descriptions of "meta-rationality" can help with this. -
are these traits that once conferred an evolutionary advantage (beings with misplaced confidence were better equipped to survive), but are now perhaps disadvantageous?
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Yes. Ability to imagine things that are not real is useful. We invented wireless communication because we had the ability to imagine such a thing before it existed. It's when we start thinking those things are real when we go off the rails.
End of conversation
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