(no subject)
danah boyd asked "What do you most fear to be wrong about?"
I stopped going to church in college; and even though I agonized over this decision for a time, I'm simply not afraid of being wrong anymore. The Baptist church of my youth was based on hope by good people that their way of life was sanctified, in comparison to others who were, they believed, damned to eternal hell.
I'm not genuinely afraid that these convictions might in fact be correct; the entire situation conceived by fundamentalist Christianity is basically untenable, and I should just as well worry that fairies and elves are the secret rulers of the earth. I'm not afraid to be wrong about that.
However, I do sometimes worry that technology will not outrun human nature, and that we will blow ourselves up before humanity can escape the planet. As I watch the rising tide of those who believe so fiercely in their God they will kill anyone who disagrees, and listen to the debates of those in this country who seek to legislate their own beliefs as mandatory for everyone, I do worry that time is running out. America is divided against itself, and scientific innovation is waning, except as it concerns military domination.
Where is the peaceful space program that would allow us to build colonies on the moon? Forget that, we've got to worry about Iran right now. What about building a logical consensus to determine the progression of stem-cell research? No, let's curtail research for the good of all so that the politics of a few will not be compromised. Should we teach real science more aggressively and competently to today's youth? No, let's introduce blatant misinformation into the science curriculum. But above all, let's not call the existence of God into question. We can't question their religious beliefs--even though the viewpoints of the scientist, the humanist, and the agnostic are derided in public each and every day.
Depsite all that, I still have hope that rational people will come together and beat the odds, allowing humans to evolve off this planet and pollinate the solar system--but sometimes I worry.
I stopped going to church in college; and even though I agonized over this decision for a time, I'm simply not afraid of being wrong anymore. The Baptist church of my youth was based on hope by good people that their way of life was sanctified, in comparison to others who were, they believed, damned to eternal hell.
I'm not genuinely afraid that these convictions might in fact be correct; the entire situation conceived by fundamentalist Christianity is basically untenable, and I should just as well worry that fairies and elves are the secret rulers of the earth. I'm not afraid to be wrong about that.
However, I do sometimes worry that technology will not outrun human nature, and that we will blow ourselves up before humanity can escape the planet. As I watch the rising tide of those who believe so fiercely in their God they will kill anyone who disagrees, and listen to the debates of those in this country who seek to legislate their own beliefs as mandatory for everyone, I do worry that time is running out. America is divided against itself, and scientific innovation is waning, except as it concerns military domination.
Where is the peaceful space program that would allow us to build colonies on the moon? Forget that, we've got to worry about Iran right now. What about building a logical consensus to determine the progression of stem-cell research? No, let's curtail research for the good of all so that the politics of a few will not be compromised. Should we teach real science more aggressively and competently to today's youth? No, let's introduce blatant misinformation into the science curriculum. But above all, let's not call the existence of God into question. We can't question their religious beliefs--even though the viewpoints of the scientist, the humanist, and the agnostic are derided in public each and every day.
Depsite all that, I still have hope that rational people will come together and beat the odds, allowing humans to evolve off this planet and pollinate the solar system--but sometimes I worry.