Religion and superstition make people feel good… so why are we atheists and skeptics so set on ruining those things for everyone, even if we’re right?
Greta Christina has a fantastic response to that question.
… Good information about reality helps us make better decisions about how to act in that reality. It helps us understand which causes are likely to have which effects. And the reverse is true as well. Decisions based on bad information are no better than guessing. Worse, in some ways, since we’re more willing to let go of decisions we know were based on guessing. It’s like people in data processing say: Garbage in, garbage out.
…
Reality is a harsh mistress. She demands our honesty. She demands our work. She demands that we give up comforts, that we let ourselves feel pain, that we accept how small we are and how little control we have over our lives. And she demands that we make her our top priority.
But she is more beautiful, and more powerful, and more surprising, and more fascinating, and more endlessly rewarding, than anything we could ever make up about her.
And we can’t let her in unless we’re willing to let her be what she is.
The entire piece is here and, much like all of Greta’s writing about this subject, I’m guessing you’ll want to share it with everyone you know.
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
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