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Hearsay and Anecdotes's avatar

I found this article thought-provoking and significant, and I appreciate your insights!

I'd love to delve deeper into the concept of a personal god in connection with the initial question posed in the article. How does this concept relate to addressing the issues you mentioned earlier? After reading the entire piece, it's still not entirely clear to me.

Additionally, I'd like to mention that people tend to create gods in various ways. For instance, in the realm of science, there's a belief akin to religious faith. Take cryogenics, for instance; despite the fact that freezing can eventually harm cells, some individuals have faith in a certain scientist's ability to resurrect them in the future, essentially placing their trust in a kind of future deity.

Thank you!

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Mechanics of Aesthetics's avatar

Thanks for this great piece. I am very sympathetic to the view that we need new gods. This piece articulated what I, as a nonbeliever in any of the established religions, have been doing over the last couple of years without being able to quite put a finger on it: constructing my own god. I am skeptical that this is a viable route for society as a whole, though. It perhaps even seems like this need to construct god yourself is the source of many of our ailments; that we do now do not have shared gods and premade stories that can be adopted, except the shallows demigods of our day: Rights, Merit, and The Market. Not everyone has the capacity to craft compelling stories for themselves, much less their extended families. But what do I know, maybe some individual out there will create a personal so compelling and constructive that it will spread.

Thanks again for the piece.

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