Excellent job! This is an interesting way of looking at it. This reminds me of a phenomenon I have been seeing on the internet lately. There are all these online groups of educated people who identify as atheist but they become so headstrong in their atheism that it has almost turned into a religion itself. There are now conferences and meetups in which these groups of people are coming together in real life to share their views. More and more you see them trying to educate non-non-believers and assert these views on others as well. Sound familiar? In this case it is broadening the traditional definition of religion (a belief in a higher power or superhuman figure) but the group of people coming together to talk, listen, discuss and share their beliefs remains. Even if that belief is that they don't believe. That said, the idea that singularity can be viewed as a religion doesn't seem nearly as farfetched. There are certainly obvious differences and I have yet to see a bunch of singularity preachers on the street corners but, technically, it is the belief in a superhuman figure. That figure is the future rather than the past and the believers are scientists who also hypothesize and research but...yeah. Interesting. I don't know if I personally agree with the idea that but I think that point of view has some validity and is interesting to think about. Anyways. Great job on the video. I can't wait to see more!I know the neuroscientist Sam Harris has even gone so far as to call the singularity “science enabled religion”
The "New Atheists" have been compared to a religious movement quite frequently. I think some of the parallels are there, but in my mind the main criteria for a religion is belief in the supernatural so IMO it doesn't really qualify. I think the reason some see them as a religious group is because they are just as passionate about religion not existing as religious people are about their religious belief. I like this. I think its important for the areligious to meet and share their views and organize. Especially for people that just realized religion is wrong and are only surrounded with family and friends that believe. Ya, the function and structure share common parallels. System parallels. You can actually say the same about any major religion and the scientific enterprise. Just as major religions have their symbolic figure heads (e.g., Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard), we have our own symbolic figures heads (e.g., Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, etc.). Just as major religions have places of worship, centers of power, and important socio-geographical landmarks (e.g., Vatican, Wailing Wall, Mecca, etc.) we have our own versions of those things (e.g., Sagan Walk, Down House, Galapagos Islands, Oxford, etc.). Even the pervasiveness of the belief structures in daily life shares commonalities. People who believe in a major religion believe that their god will save them from disease, death, and make sure they are well-fed and safe... whereas people in secular society believe that science can fill those functions. You may not see singularity preachers on street corners... but that's because we are too tech savvy for that. We have blogs. Thanks :-)There are all these online groups of educated people who identify as atheist but they become so headstrong in their atheism that it has almost turned into a religion itself.
There are now conferences and meetups in which these groups of people are coming together in real life to share their views.
In this case it is broadening the traditional definition of religion (a belief in a higher power or superhuman figure) but the group of people coming together to talk, listen, discuss and share their beliefs remains. Even if that belief is that they don't believe.
There are certainly obvious differences and I have yet to see a bunch of singularity preachers on the street corners
Anyways. Great job on the video. I can't wait to see more!