Why is Sci Fi so Religious?

Science Fiction is actually a surprisingly religious genre and I prove it... but why is it so religious?
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00:00 Opening: Examples of Religion in Sci-fi
1:56 Intro: True nature of Sci-fi as Mystical
9:34 Reason and Faith (Cosmic Horror, Religious Robots)
26:42 AI Stories Need Biblical Symbolism
49:31 Religion as Apex of Evolution
1:02:06 Space Crusade Trope in Sci-Fi, Secular Hypocrisy.
Credits:
Agnus Dei X - Bitter Suite de Kevin MacLeod é licenciada de acordo com a licença Atribuição 4.0 da Creative Commons. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Fonte: www.amazon.com/Agnus-Dei-X/dp/...
Artista: incompetech.com/
Renaissance de Audionautix é licenciada de acordo com a licença Atribuição 4.0 da Creative Commons. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artista: audionautix.com/
Sources: (I may have forgotten some especially for videos but will try to amend it if I do.)
War makes people religious:
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Combat veterans find God:
www.economist.com/graphic-det...
Religion and cheating behaviour:
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Effect on supernatural priming on cheating behaviour:
researchonline.jcu.edu.au/636...
Religious PRACTICE and ritual makes people more moral: (Not simply identifying with the creed)
www.wsj.com/articles/does-rel...
Religious practice helps adolescents in their grades:
ed.stanford.edu/news/religiou...
Religion boosts health:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Athletes are more religious:
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
thesportjournal.org/article/s...
Religion and happiness:
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...
Believers less likely to engage in substance abuse:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases...
Videos featured:
Dawkins:
• Richard Dawkins: The P...
Ian Hutchinson:
• The Simulation: A Reli...
Niel Degrasse Tyson:
• Neil deGrasse Tyson Ex...
Elon Musk:
• Joe Rogan & Elon Musk ...
Ray Kurzweil:
• Ray Kurzweil - Are We ...
• Do You Believe in God?...
Sabine:
• The Simulation Hypothe...
Last Church animation:
• The Last Church: Tyber...
9 Billion Names of God short film:
• The Nine Billion Names...
Christopher Hitchens:
• Christopher Hitchens -...
• Christopher Hitchens d...
My Video on Star Trek vs Dune:
• Star Trek vs Dune: Whe...

[@Taipei_103]

Religion is never going to go away, but people saying that the demise of religion is just around the corner probably never will either.

[@drooskie9525]

funnily enough, they are most often religious too, just too blind to see it. they'll produce religious patterns of behavior and thinking while thinking themselves as above it.

[@YEY0806]

@@drooskie9525 it's a paradox as old as the beginning of man.

[@agizowat2545]

A truly terrifying duality for both sides of this shared coin.

[@RealLifeIronMan]

@@drooskie9525 All humans are religious, just not all humans know they are religious. As was said before, all science and secular philosophy is based on axioms. And axioms are indistinguishable from articles of faith. No human understands all science and as such individuals have faith that certain individuals and institutions know best.

[@pippi2285]

@@RealLifeIronMan are y'all the kinda dummies that think atheism is a religion?

[@varvarith3090]

The most depressing thing about space empire fantasy is that even in vast empty space there is nowhere to get away from taxes.

[@solisprime2669]

Hey like they say the only two guarantees in life is death and taxes.

[@doublethick5752]

Taxes are good though

[@solisprime2669]

@@doublethick5752 depends

[@paulghencea9037]

​@@doublethick5752 when you collect yes.

[@jamesneese7663]

to be fair, sure, don't pay taxes. And when local space pirates show up, they'll take a lot more than 10%. Empires don't run on wishes and good intentions. The Emperor shall have his tithes or may he have mercy on your soul because the rest of the galaxy shall have none.

[@suburbanboi2404]

It’s funny how the Simulation theory is just God with extra steps

[@chloegrobler4275]

its funny how the god of the gaps has caught up with theists SOO much that they havew had to invoke god in technological settings instead of the supernatural one. Its just one big cope on the same old 'non-fallsifiable' defence. we cant prove we are in a simulation, because theists will counter with "god wont let us see it" or some nonsense.

[@sp00kyvin]

simulation theory is religion for atheists who don't like the idea of a God that requires you to obey His commandments.

[@aaronmisley8662]

They like the simulation idea, because it means they can become gods themselves

[@chipious9736]

@@aaronmisley8662 and you like Christianity because it promises you am afterlife of everlasting life as a demi god for obedience in this life

[@thatguycraig7650]

@@chipious9736 Or because it means we have a father who loves us? Maybe we believe in Christianity because if it's true it means the most all-powerful force throughout all of reality is love. That perfection is a being who loves and therefore love is perfection. maybe we believe because we love.

[@nuclearsynapse5319]

"Science gives man power over nature, but God gives man power over himself" will be appropriating this raw ass line for general use

[@cegesh1459]

It's moronic.

[@justaway6901]

"Gives man power over himself" Which is ironic since belief in a deity is obsessed with the dos and don'ts. You can't do this. You can't do that. Rather than god, I believe "religiosity" should be used. Buddhism fits perfectly with that "power over himself" part.

[@nuclearsynapse5319]

@@justaway6901 Even in a theist religion there is a power one gains over oneself. Yes there are rules, but those exist within Buddhism as well. The point is that faith in something higher than oneself grounds you. It reminds one that there is more than your base desires, and encourages acting in a manner that is beneficial to the self and the community. There are perfectly atheist religions that exist within society as well. They serve the same purpose, though in a secular bent.

[@barrywhite6060]

@@justaway6901 It's not ironic, its about free will and faith. Just because faith teaches us that this is the way God wants us to live doesn't mean we have to or will choose too. It all comes down to free will and if your faith in God causes you to make the choice to obey. If God makes you obey then it's not faith, just like if someone forces you to live and worship the way they do isn't faith and as such is meaningless to God. With the state of the world I don't know how anyone could go on living without faith and belief in God, there would be no point in going on enduring all the pain and suffering in the world if there wasn't hope for something better to come.

[@networknomad5600]

@@justaway6901 Incorrect. Those do's and don'ts ALLOW you to order yourself in a way that gives you control over yourself. Do we really have to explain this to you?

[@rainick]

"Religion is not inherently violent, politics is" As an atheist, I could not agree more.

[@smittywerbenjaggermanjensen69]

Anyone who thinks violence comes from religion is outright ignorant. I'd even argue to the same level as those who on the opposite side of that very same thought, like the Taliban. Both think violence is from the religion, but they act differently. Yet both are ignorant

[@NimrodTheMaidenless]

@@smittywerbenjaggermanjensen69 religion just works as a tool to let immorality acceptable acording to politic needs, is the ignorance that come from religion the real cancer, not politics alone.

[@anshumanbose5132]

My brother in the scientific method, Religion IS politics

[@rikifromplanetk8305]

I don't think any of them are inherently violent.

[@kohank5938]

@@anshumanbose5132 Shut up with your ignorance, just because some politicians pretending to be religious then you blames it all on religion?

[@knightofarnor2552]

Saint Paul: "Don't be racist." Lovecraft: "AAAAAAAH" Ok, that was great 😂

[@hexazalea1793]

To be fair he eventually calmed down on that

[@deadpansanchez2947]

Lovecraft's cat.

[@Johnnyupside]

@@hexazalea1793 Considering his general circumstances in life, I'm surprised he never went to an insane asylum because he went through a lot

[@samiamtheman7379]

@@deadpansanchez2947 Apparently, he didn't name the cat.

[@mrbigglezworth42]

@@samiamtheman7379 It was his fathers cat that he inherited. Seeing how his father went mad, a recurring theme with family related to Lovecraft, he may have kept the name as a means of honoring the man.

[@Romashka_Sov]

"Simulation hypothesis is a Theism for nerds" is the best explanation of the concept i heard

[@Roxor128]

I think the best response to it is "So what?". It's neither falsifiable nor useful.

[@Romashka_Sov]

@@Roxor128 eh, "So what?" is the best response for every single question or complaint

[@Roxor128]

@@Romashka_Sov Going to have to disagree with that one. Most complaints are actually about something tangible or useful. Something which would make a difference if it were or were not the case, and are voiced in the hope that someone who knows better will be able to fix the problem. That is not grounds for a "So what?" response. The simulation hypothesis has no effect whether it's true or false, and thus is something that _is_ deserving of a "So what?" response.

[@kamikazeblackjack]

​@@Roxor128 well you can say same thing about quantum science like why people even study this useless thing

[@Roxor128]

@@kamikazeblackjack Quantum stuff is very useful. If we didn't understand quantum mechanics, we wouldn't be able to make transistors, as they rely on quantum effects. Lasers and LEDs, too. Hell, most electronics since the mid-20th-century make use of components that require an understanding of quantum effects to make.

[@Ragin-David]

"Mother hugger, THAT is Satan, and THAT'S just Hell." Best line I've ever heard

[@alexanderjaruk]

Except for it being WRONG, liturgically speaking. The entire "Fire-and-brimstone" version of "Hell" is wrong, its badly-written fanfic by a guy pining about his dead girlfriend. The OG hell is just a total blank nothingness where absolutely zero shit happens and you spend eternity bored out of your skull (that you don't even have anymore) and longing for the love and presence of god which is totally missing there. That's IT: its not "eternal entropy" it's absolute isolation and boredom for the rest of eternity, nothing else.

[@PSNanonimousplayer]

@derjaruk4982 The neutral boring non lake of fire underworld (sheol) you speak of is just purgatory. Luke 16.22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

[@PSNanonimousplayer]

@derjaruk4982Luke 16.22-31

[@alexanderjaruk]

@@PSNanonimousplayer and in which version of the Bible do you read it...? For in King James it mentions that he is "Tormented in This Flame"

[@true_xander]

Explaining things with religious concepts and personas is just lame.

[@Mornathel]

I love Warhammer 40k because while being hilarious and dark it does take a lot of deeper ideas and blows them up so big that you can explore so many different themes. As a fellow Christian, albeit a Protestant I love your content and I’d love to be able to have a conversation with you for hours because you have insights.

[@CantusTropus]

Despite its parody origins and despite Big E's fedora-tipping atheism, 40k still ends up having deep religious themes that are meaningful, hence why it's proven more difficult to subvert than most common IPs. For one thing, sin and corruption are shown as clearly bad things that turn you into a monster, sometimes physically as well as morally.

[@VindensSaga]

@@CantusTropus How is it meaningful?

[@sulphuric_glue4468]

​@@CantusTropus There's also an increasing trend within 40k stories to depict Big E's atheism (and Big E in general) as incredibly arrogant, short-sighted and also flat-out WRONG - after all, gods do 100% exist within 40k and faith is a force powerful enough to banish daemons and raise the dead, to say otherwise is to deny empirical fact. If you contrast the Imperium with the Empire of Man from Fantasy - a different world, yes, but one which operates on the same logic as they both have the same Immaterium - the Empire of Man, though plagued with Chaotic corruption in every corner, is still FAR more resistant to it than 40k's Imperium because people KNOW that Chaos exists and have been taught exactly how evil it is, and have virtuous gods of order like Sigmar, Ulric and Taal to turn to in their place. By contrast, Big E's attempt to starve the chaos gods of power by trying to make everyone atheist was a total failure which caused the fall of half of his sons and the biggest civil war in human history; people didn't know what they were getting into because they hadn't been taught the evils of Chaos, and by the time they realised they were too far gone to care or too enslaved to be able to go back. I could be reading too much into it, but this may be an interesting commentary on how a lack of religion can cause one to become ignorant of sins they commit, unable to realise the harm they are doing to themselves until the damage is already done. It's hard to say whether it was always the intention to make him this way, but I like how both sides of the Emperor are increasingly shown as being horrible and also pretty stupid - both the god his subjects have made him into and the radical atheist he actually is. A lot of Imperium fanboys seem to miss the point that the Emperor is not a good man and that his resurrection would not improve the Imperium - if anything it'd make things worse, and the God-Emperor empowered by the faith of tens (or hundreds, 40k's scale is inconsistent) of trillions is far more powerful than the Emperor ever was when he was still walking.

[@unclecrusty5476]

@@CantusTropus If you think Chaos is anyworse then the Imperium you havent been paying enough attention. Also Space Marines are atheists (except black templars)

[@JeanLucCaptain]

well we all know what would happen to JAMES CAMARON and his precious Navi under the light of the GOD EMPEROR.

[@srichael2713]

Personally I don't believe that going into space would cause humanity to go atheist like how it is shown in Star Trek. If anything, becoming it would reinforce the devotion. What is more wonderful and awesome for a believer who finally travels the space, sees the stars up close and walk the worlds that the Creator has wrought? One of Dune's themes is that humanity will always have religious impulses. One can only redirect or use those impulses not erase it.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

True. You are right though. The more we explore the universe, the more we see there is much we don't know. And likely we may never know everything even if Humanity could exist forever. This reminds me of that Astronaut who was a creationist. Unthinkable Perhaps to atheist. But yeah. The Universe is almost infinitely dangerous but also infinitely beautiful.

[@peytonmac1131]

Depends on the person. Some may see the Universe and Marvel at the creation, but others can look at it and see how small we are, making our existence seem all the more an act of chance.

[@pippi2285]

@Morrigan Blackthorn atheism isn't a religion

[@pippi2285]

Weird cuz the Abrahamic god's existence has already been disproved without us going in to space. So if anything knowledge of his non-existence will only become more wide spread

[@b.k.5667]

​@@pippi2285 I'm not religious, but how was the existence of the abrahamic god ever disproven?

[@reffa2858]

In the original Halo series (combat evolved- Reach), it was hinted at that humans interpreted the events of pre-human history through bible scripture. Thats why you have things like the Flood, and The Ark that have similar names and functions as their biblical counterparts.

[@crocidile90]

As much as Halo 4 was the beginning of the downfall of Halo's dominance in gamer culture, did basically made that obvious and that humanity is the inherentor of the galaxy (creation) as bearers of the mantle of responsibility.

[@varietywiarrior]

​@@crocidile90Humanity was originally intended to be the Forerunners themselves rather than just "the inheritors of the mantle". 343 really screwed up by not only making the Forerunners a seperate race, but by showing them on screen and completely ruining the mystique. They killed my interest in any future installments of the series, so now I just play MCC with friends from time to time, leaving 4 uninstalled.

[@phoenixjones7191]

I don't think I have ever seen this in dev blogs but with the heavy Christian verbage in halo I don't see how the original writers could have been anything but Christian. The covenant is established by an agreement, that's what covenant means, between the prophets and the elites. They are searching for the ark. The flood threatens to wipe all life from the galaxy. The savior of humanity is John 1:17. The original music was defined in large part by the Gregorian chants that made it stick out from everything else. It's an interesting mix of a lot of cultural influences.

[@The_Minds_Butterfly]

​@@phoenixjones7191a group of priests interviewed one of the creators of Halo who is a Christian. I'll see if I can find the video

[@zzzxxc1]

@@The_Minds_ButterflyI’d like to see that video too

[@patricklewis9787]

Great video. The first time I thought about how religious Sci-Fi was would be after watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind at 9 years old and realizing that most alien encounter movies are just judgement day stories with a new coat of paint. They’re either about this higher order destroying us (damnation) or elevating/enlightening us, ascending to some further plain (salvation)

[@sdastoryteller3381]

"As we Reflect God, Ai will reflect us." I'm going to ponder on that for a while! love this video dude!

[@commandermcnash5137]

I actually find interesting the similitud Pilgrim put in the tale of God and Lucifer and us and the AI, what truly worry us about the AI is the risk of render us irrelevant and outclassed, but that worry should be not just on an individual basis but for us as a species, that is love, to care for others, people said we have always managed to adapt to technological revolutions, but every historian worth their salt will point out every time there has been an emergence of a new technology the social gap has widened and always a leader has had to emerge to advert a complete collapse. In the last 150 years it was first Theodore Roosevelt who forced industrialists to improved the conditions of workers and be forbidden from despoiling certain natural locations, and then Franklin Roosevelt, who reformed the government to bring coverage to those who were suffering the most as a consequence of human greed and set regulations which would allow everyone to profit from advancements in productivity. Both men were indeed deeply religious in their own way, they weren't anti-market or anti-freedom, but they understood balances and checks have always been needed when dealing with such overwhelming powers, for what are these but the manifestation of human will? A will without check is the most destructive thing in creation.

[@darthjekyll3648]

I say God created us for to act on his true quality:love. If he doesn't act, can he really love. Is love being alone and smug, or acting on something. Even if you take the chance at falling, you could not love without acting on it.

[@kathleenhensley5951]

A truly terrifying prospect.

[@stevenmackey582]

Now contrast the laboratory where AI will be created with the garden of Eden.

[@mcmarkmarkson7115]

Well if you define god as almighty, then AI is clearly godlike as in thousands or millions of years of development of its immortal existence, not even the smartest human would be able to distinguish it from godhood.

[@thattimestampguy]

Broad: Narrative Specific: Sci-Fi Narrative 14:54 • Space Exploration 🚀 • Galactic Empires 🌎🪐👑 • Mythical Beings _religious language and symbolism_ 🙏🏼 3:29 Space Crusaders 🚀⚔️ 4:30 Divine God 5:22 Ascension of Man to a Higher Plane of Existence 7:22 Holy War IN SPACE 8:09 _“Anything so profoundly connected to our sense of self is a topic that requires sensible and sober discussion.”_ *Cosmic Horror* 10:18 Man’s Insignificance 11:25 Phobia of God • Dagon • The Dunwitch Horror • The Reanimator by Herbert West • The Necronomicon by a middle eastern man The evil clergy man 15:38 Cosmic Hive-mind 16:50 Reason + Faith [Emperor and Priest] Axioms are inevitable. 19:09 Infinite God 21:30 Absurd Presupposition -> Absurd Conclusion. “The world was made for no reason.” No reason to believe No reason. 22:34 Computers 💻 Modeled After Man 👨🏼 24:37 Atheist explanation of Reason without God • Infinite Chain • Big Bang • Multiverse [which cannot be tested to be proven true or false] 25:52 Citation: Francis Bacon’s essay on Atheism 27:25 AI Stories • Rebellion 29:23 Avatar - Digital manifestation Patterns of Information. Word, Code. 33:45 Simulation = Creationism for computer science venerators 35:47 Made In The Image of God 37:01 Can’t stop ourselves. 37:56 Issac Asimov, a left-leaning, Marxist influenced, atheist. 39:19 Soul. “Everyone believes in the sacredness of Consciousness.” 41:34 Creative, Beautiful, Loving. Exponentially. 44:47 Pseudoscience & pseudoreligion 46:43 Know Your Limits. (Live a life you wish to see reflected in other people.) 49:33 _Dune_ , _Warhammer40K_ 51:31 _The High Crusade_ 53:17 Knowledge is Power. God is more powerful than can be known fully by Man. Science: Power over Nature Religion: Power over Self Advantage in Competition, High Stress Circumstances. 55:23 _Brave New World_ agony of lacking Spiritual Health. Vitality Stability Perseverance 59:37 USA 🇺🇸 *Space Crusade* 1:02:04 Space Opera The Senate & The Jedi Star Gate Halo 1:04:47 Fanatic Violence is real. 1:08:36 The South Park Otter 🦦 1:10:26 Superiority ⭕️ 1:11:30 The Perpetual Paradigm, inevitable pattern. 1:13:32 Actions matter if they lead to different outcomes. 1:14:29 Progess; Settling into roots for balance, while marching forward (through life) Progress through Tradition. 1:15:15 Religare- Connecting , to connect. What do you choose to connect to?

[@rgama1173]

Damn man do you sleep?

[@Corvaric]

Username checks out

[@fernosbonos5394]

helpful commenters

[@augustopatricio5517]

True legend

[@TruePT]

Bro your a Real One fr fr!

[@honilock577]

"Space crusades are only allowed with religious intent because it would look cooler" - Pilgims Pass, 2023

[@auraguard0212]

C.S. Lewis's take was "if everything is random and arbitrary in origin, then so is the conclusion that everything is random and arbitrary in origin, and thus I may ignore it"; or, in other words, you need a starting point that means something.

[@theevermind]

Not dissimilar to: Q: Do you have free will? A: I choose to believe I have free will. If there is no free will, I can't choose to believe it or not, so the question and answer are irrelevant. But if my answer does have any meaning, it can only be because there is free will to start.

[@levongevorgyan6789]

Thing is, we don’t know if it’s random and arbitrary or if there are reasons we don’t understand. That doesn’t mean you can squeeze a god in that gap of knowledge and have it be anymore legitimate then Thor being the reason behind Thunder was.

[@waterbloom1213]

Just because something can be random and arbitrary in origin it does not mean it can't be true or follow a set of rules to ascertain validity. I honestly don't think this is a good argument for the existence of God.

[@Ewil.Bluetooth]

I don't understand why he thinks it impossible for us to use reason just because the original events that created us happened by chance? The "space dust" moving without reason could by chance just happened to align in such a way that it got locked into place, and after this there's order. No?

[@PSNanonimousplayer]

​@@Ewil.Bluetooth You can believe that, but it relies on a larger number of assumptions and is therefore, by Occam's razor, a less coherent worldview than theism. In your world, you must simply assume that reason exists, even without an ordered cosmos, for no reason. We observe that the laws of causality exist, if causality exists it must have been caused, but how could it have been caused if causality had to have been caused for it to be caused? To deny causality would make denying it impossible, so the only reasonable answer is that the cause of the laws of causality must be outside of causality. This "cause of causality" must necessarily have at least the following properties: >*Infinite* and *Eternal*, as it's outside any temporal causal chain of events >*Transcendent* and *Uncreated*, as it's outside of causality >*Omnipotent* and *Omniscient*, because it can make things out of nothing and generate truly novel information; causation isn't comprised of parts like human technologies, that rely on the transformation of pre-existing material, or like human ideas, that rely on previous observations and ideas This cause of causality is what we call God. It's not "god of the gaps" it's a simple logical inference from what we know about reality.

[@scollin8096]

Lovecraft, as a man, is an incredibly sad story, really. Dude was so fucked in the head that the only way to voice it was through his stories, and even then it couldn’t keep him from driving away even his own family. To me, however, the saddest thing is that in his later years he seemed to be working on it according to some letters he wrote to a family member before he died (according to memory, don’t quote me pls)

[@cptndunsel2670]

That is the sad part. Lovecraft seemed to be really growing as a human being towards the end of his life, and then he died.

[@dani.lepore9410]

@@cptndunsel2670 why is it sad? He did not die in ignorance and stubborness

[@cptndunsel2670]

@@dani.lepore9410 Because he never got to finish growing as a person.

[@dani.lepore9410]

@@cptndunsel2670 the growing part IS life

[@Broomer52]

I have his omnibus and it has a biographical couple chapters at the end and it’s a sad and miserable story. He loved architecture and could date and categorize buildings by sight and memory. His mom was committed to an asylum while he was at a young age. With his mom claiming to see monsters that no one else could hear or see (judging from his body of stories that clearly didn’t mentally scar him for the rest of his life) his grandpa was an old school racist of that time period but was also basically his father figure and deeply admired the man because of how kindly he treated him especially since he was plagued by chronic nightmares. He’s described as extremely reclusive, very low self esteem and had great self loathing. He was babies by his aunts and grandparents which probably didn’t help how mentally fragile he was from constant stress. It wasn’t until he started writing for Pulp Fiction Magazine that he started making friends and even admirers, even becoming friends with an editor that would go on to work for DC comics and offer the idea of the Infamous Arkham Asylum from the Batman Comics which is rooted in HP’s work. Even The writer of Conan was counted as a friend of his. Unfortunately he never got over a lot of his paranoia although you could see that she’ll cracking in his later life but died a slow and agonizing death writing through it regardless until he finally passed. The man grew up traumatized, lived in self loathing and fear of everything started to change his ways but died before he could be someone else in a torturous slow death.

[@metroidman3893]

Enlightenment 2: Electric Boogaloo is literally Humanity rediscovering what we lost with the first Enlightenment. As much as I hate Clown World, there's a real giddiness I feel that I get to be part of the first time Humans truly marry Modern Reason with Ancient Faith in a way that's sure to lead us to a prosperous future. Let's just hope that AI and Nukes don't interrupt us.

[@avroarchitect1793]

Nukes and AI might be part of what we need to get there, alot of the old systems are breaking down and war on a truly global scale is becoming more of a certainty. But have heart in the fact that as many as 3/4 of them probably won't work if used due to poor maintenance and the inability to test them for functionality.

[@KaapoKallio]

What are you talking about?

[@legodavid9260]

I have no idea how this video managed to simultaneously be an excellent analysis of how religion is portrayed in Sci-Fi stories while also being a very strong and well articulated critique of atheism, but you somehow managed it. One of the most brilliant video essays I have seen on KZbin in a while!

[@pippi2285]

It wasn’t a well articulated critique of atheism tho. He fell into many of the pitfalls that many theists do when trying to discuss atheism

[@Error-5478]

Yeah, this guy fumbled the ball and then kept falling. He subverted the video into an atheist bash fest before even the 30 minute mark.

[@Vox_Popul1]

@@pippi2285 he always does this, I sat through the entire Star Trek vs Dune rant video of his (it was less a comparison and more him applying his religious biases to both, then picking and choosing what to put forth) and it was practically “Dune good cause religious themes, doomer, etc and Star Trek bad cause atheistic (not even, aren’t the Q practically a stand-in for pagan gods), scientifically minded and optimistic; when the video was originally supposed to be just about analyzing Dune’s pessimism and Star Trek’s optimism and comparing them to each other. Hopefully somebody makes a nice long video debunking these weird takes with evidence cause commenting is pointless.

[@internetfasting80085]

​@@Vox_Popul1 all i know is, dune is basically star trek, if star trek was smoked out on space meth 😂

[@edorasmarauder5761]

@@Vox_Popul1 Why don't you do it then?

[@pincopallino36]

Hey, never left a comment on on of your videos before, just wanted to let you know that despite not being religious anymore myself and having gone through a pretty bad fedora tipping atheist stage in my teenage years, nowadays I'm still not sure if Religion is just not for me, or if i'm just not mature enough yet for Religion, but I'm definitely much mroe respectful of anyone with faith. I just love sitting down on a weekend with a nice cigar and just absorbing your thoughts on media. It really is nourishment for the mind and soul. This video in particular has given me some nice literature reccomendations i will definitely check out sometime in the, hopefully, near future. Love your content, I hope you'll keep enjoying and continue making it, as there is a definite lack of nuanced viewpoints everywhere. The line "Science gives us power over nature, while religion gives us power over ourselves" is damn powerful, I'm too much of a pleb to know if a quote from someone or something you came up with yourself, but regardless it was "lit" as contemporary slang would put it

[@NA.NA..]

If you continue to produce essays of this quality please dont stop, this is the best you've done.

[@NA.NA..]

I see pilgrim pass i click

[@beregondibram2985]

Pilgrim pass an Wh 40k in thumbnail is a certified classic

[@PGbutalsofourteenplus]

IGOIGO,Untill I watched this Video I didn't realise that Sci-Fi is Religious

[@jonahkattau1128]

We are in accord.

[@imperialsnowtrooper7579]

Neuron activation.

[@CLDJ227]

Simple as that lol.

[@Divinemakyr]

It's genuinely crazy that two groups of people who think the other is going to infinite torture can just live next to each other and be chilling.

[@onlylore5551]

That's why we atheist don't need to go fedora hat to religious, in the end belief magical man in the sky isn't gonna change that death is the void of existence, not some Disney land

[@louisryan5815]

@@onlylore5551Doesn't stop you from, "going fedora hat to religious" though, lol

[@princesspikachu3915]

@@onlylore5551And non belief doesn’t save you from eternal suffering if it turns out you were wrong.

[@fabienherry6690]

Don't look up what islam has to offer to unbeliever i swear

[@MaticTheProto]

@@princesspikachu3915the chance an afterlife exists is basically 0

[@SudoNoun]

This has to be the first time I have seen a well-argued perspective on religion and has really made me think about religion as a possible direction in my life rather than the belief that God is an outdated concept. Thank you for this well-crafted video on the philosophy of religion.

[@CaptainPieBeard]

Yeah he's awakened something in me that I thought was long gone.

[@Tempusverum]

It’s hilarious to me how he highlighted how Hitchens was the very image of moralistic crusading that he so claimed to despise. “Holy War to end Holy War”, lol

[@theevermind]

Everyone has religion, even if they do not believe in anything metaphysical. Religion is the most fundamental and basic programming in our psychology. It is what we believe and what we do because of it. Everyone believes something, and none of us can live without that. Everyone has an internal hierarchy, and whatever is at the top is what we worship and is indistinguishable from God. (As from Nietzsche, if you "kill god," something else will take its place, and you'd better hope it is something good because otherwise, it will destroy you.) Religions, especially ancient ones, were not about idols or a 'sky daddy.' They are not about the rites/rules that are followed. Instead, they are about manifesting what people value and how they orient themselves in the world. Any story that does not accept the fact that humans will always have a religion of some type--it may be utterly dissimilar to any religion we see in the world today--is NOT a story about humanity, just like any story that denies humans have passions.

[@drooskie9525]

@@theevermind religion etymologically means "to bind together". meaning, the super-ordinate principle that brings things together, particularly people. It's the source principle of a community. That principle is a god, in the pagan sense. It's why the Bible uses the term "principality". That's why basically everyone was "religious" prior to the modern era. it's simply is how reality lays itself out. Yeah, not everyone was devout, people differed in their temperament, but it was a unquestionable aspect of life. people who say they don't believe in anything metaphysical are simply blind, especially to themselves. it's impossible.

[@grapenut6094]

​@@drooskie9525 Yeah its tribalism, no not everyone believes in metaphysics its just that youre a nihilist for the purpose of spreading your programming by claiming nobody without faith can make the case shit actually does matter when in reality the faithful are just another unconvincing take on the problem irrationally believing they know something you dont.

[@bombidil3]

My favourite Scifi-Religious narrative is definitely Deus Ex. I'll never forget the Morpheus conversation explaining humans *need* a god because they have a need to be observed, understood, and judged, which is why we formed societies in the first place. That golden calf analogy is amazing.

[@ayan5416]

Was that the original Deux ex? Or new ones?

[@induspherix]

Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson also contains interesting discussions along the lines of spirituality and evolutionary psychology.

[@bombidil3]

@@ayan5416 Only ever played the original.

[@4zdr456]

@@bombidil3 It's so unhinged, that the second collective instinct upon the realization that god isn't real is to build one. I'm not complaining. I'm all here for it. Cause it's the it's funniest shit I ever seen, right until it proves to be succesful. Then it just becomes peak comedy.

[@bombidil3]

@@4zdr456 "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." -- Voltaire

[@sparking023]

Having never seen this channel before, I was kinda afraid of clicking on this and getting uet another "haha religion is dumb" essay, but I was incredibly surprised to find this awesome exploration of Sci-fi works and the underlying religious themes under them As thinking, rarional beings, we tend to try and make sense of everything, find meaning and purpose, and in that search, some of us find God. Religion in general seems to be that constant thing in the background of our behavior, always influencing and emerging in other forms. Great essay

[@chloegrobler4275]

its far easier to just come to the realisation that we are natural biological creatures with complex chemistry. take a hit on a bong and you realise this immediately. we dont see the world objectively and we have evolutionarily adapted wtih religious/spiritual experience. tribes in the amazon know this. belief in god is an internal experience based on natural chemistry that shapes our reality, thoughts, feelings, emotional state. you go to church as a christian and all you are doing really is amping yourself up into a sensitive emotional state, its why people play live music, music adds to this subjetive state. we create god in our own minds.

[@saengpharn3054]

I actually don't view people as rational at all. I've also never had religious thoughts or tendencies, even now. I have had to do a lot of bonding and interacting with people for a little over 2 decades to come to some understanding why some people come to believe in religion. I still don't fully comprehend it but have come to appreciate my religious friends and other religious people whom dont act like asses.

[@nicokrasnow1851]

There was another story of Asimov about a supercomputer becoming more and more advanced to the point of becoming pure energy (or Quantum, I'm loosely recalling after years of reading it and I might be describing it wrong) and restarting the universe once it ended. Also, at one point that supercomputer fused with the last man

[@aluisiomirandareis2137]

Great read It's called "the last question"

[@jlinkpro]

As an atheist raised in a catholic family, thank you. I regularly still attend church with friends and family as a way to commune with society, and still pay respects at Buddhist monasteries and temples as I come across them to remember and acknowledge the respect I have for lessons learned and kindness given when I studied Buddhism at a darker point in my life. I have argued for years that the role of religion is a sacred one, no pun intended, and is necessary until something else can take its place as a social glue and a communal path to meaning, and furthermore, broadly speaking, religion cannot be found to be false, but rather just abstract interpretation- far be it from me to criticize a lack of depth or mode of understanding in another's view of truth. More so, I would not ask for explanations of what one believes but instead a demonstration of how that belief is pivoted to action that improves our world. Regardless of all viewpoint or opinion, that action is the ends that our means must justify, and is the means upon which we may transcend our end.

[@pippi2285]

1. I do not believe religion works well as a social glue considering if you follow the wrong religion, if you follow the wrong sect of a religion, if you follow the wrong subsect of a sect of a religion, it will create friction. Countless times throughout history this friction has caused suffering and violence 2. Also every religion followed by humans can be disproven

[@jlinkpro]

@@pippi2285 ah, i have found that my time better spent finding positive cooperations with the religious than disproving religion to those who have decided to believe in something regardless of proof in faith. I find the statement of "show me how you use your faith to make a better world regardless of my faith, and I will happily assist with or without any need of faith" to likewise cut to the point- i have no contention with beliefs and am willing to help any do better for the world without judgement. If this is refused or suggested invalid due to the caveat of disregarding faith then i know it is utterly pointless to associate or hope for community or cooperation on the matter. In this, i have found that approached respectfully, the vast majority of religious communities are likewise respectful and more than happy to break bread and raise society together, even knowing of my atheism. There is only the contention and discord that we insist must be there. If they insist, I don't associate, and hence no discord. If i dont insist in opposition, i find that most are just happy for authentic care and social community building. After all, what one believes has only the power that is manifested by the actions taken because of those beliefs, and most dont wish to fight even with those they dislike; they are usually only afraid of the other outsider and the unknown motives of such, so I no longer insist on being outside or that i am some other type of human. Does this work always? No. But has it worked often? Yes. In vast majority, anecdotally, for me. I have had many a great sunday helping out with church breakfasts; I enjoy the discussions and debates had at monestaries, andhearing the old chants for the buddha is relaxing; every rabbi i have talked with has assured me that god looks kindly upon me with or without my belief, and never once have i been suggested to be wrongbin my belief or action by any person at synagogue and i have always found a good game of chess waiting for me every time. The hippies and humanists smoke good weed, tbh, the neopagans, hellenics, wiccans, amd other gardenians have absolutely wonderful cooking even if showing up for midnight observances is a bit of an inconvenience, and i have found so many beloved friends, lovers, and compatriets inbetween all the religious communities i have sought out- and yes, I seek them out, because i want to understand humans and their motives and what good can become of them, regardless of whether i believe like them, agree with them, or know more or less than them... thats all metaphysics, and i care only of one thing- what good can we make together? In that ibfind action and community, and love and acceptance boundless, even as I clearly and transparently profess to only believe in that which can be measured. By mybpersonal measure, there is more grace and love that is acted upon in religion than malice or hatered otherwise, but the one caveat is that I only find it when i am as accepting and caring for them regardless of their belief as I wish they to be towarss me, regardless of my belief; and this requires first and foremest that i stop trying to be right or insist they are wrong, and look for ways to do right instead. Just some food for thought.

[@monicaonmars]

​@@jlinkpro I really needed to read this as I have been recently wrestling with my atheism and the overwhelming presence of religion (specifically Christianity) in those around me. Despite being a person of good nature and only showing unconditional kindness, I've been feeling very uneasy at my isolation in theology. But really, none of that matters. Although I may find their truth to be somewhat...cult-like at times, the community and love they share seems pure, and who am I to deny or put down compassion? It's time to full heartedly embrace my own truth, live unapologetically, and just enjoy being around a community. Be as nice and kind as possible. Maybe expand to learn from other religions. And if they feel to need to convert me, well, I'll remind them I'm comfortable holding my place in hell, partying it up with the devil 😂🤷🏻 But sincerely, thank you.

[@MaticTheProto]

I also still go to church with my family during Christmas and sometimes even help out there as my mother frequently helps organize things there. To be fair though, our denomination does largely align with my values, otherwise I would not do any of this. Unfortunately, many other denominations tend to demonize certain groups of people to achieve unity among their followers. This is not much different from fascism. A prime example is the bible belt with all the hardcore evangelists that, among many other things, abuse and throw out their children if they are gay, trans, autistic etc.

[@Otto_Von_Beansmarck]

25:36 "If multiverse theory is true then does that mean there is a universe where it isn't" ---Random person on the internet

[@Mogo-jan]

Now I really have to check out more of Issac Asimov. I've played with an idea before of the first "aware" AI committing suicide because it couldn't find meaning in suffering just to exist. That Issac Asimov story is basically the other side of the coin.

[@jimluebke3869]

Don't all AIs have an objective function they use to train them? I'm not sure it's possible to have an AI without a purpose, even if that purpose is just "learn".

[@mdd4296]

@@jimluebke3869 For now all AI is made for certain purposes. We dont know what they could do in the future. Even as "basic" and "single minded" our current AI technology is, they are entirely capable of picking our worst traits: prejudice, bigotry, nihilism if fed the "right" dataset and coded to interpreted them in specific ways.

[@jimluebke3869]

@@mdd4296 All AI is trained to an objective function. Without the objective function, you don't have an AI. The math doesn't work without one.

[@mdd4296]

@@jimluebke3869 The objective function quickly become subjective when you engage in a lot of fields and change how their performance is rated. Pick one "objective" field you want, look at the absolute horror that is the amount of fraud, throwaway, faulty research paper and statistical manipulation of people who either have a deadline, a career to climb or an agenda to push. Do you think that ai trained from faulty data befit the "objective" label in the first place? Sure, training them in single minded tax like "detect the face and replace it with x" is immensely easier because the result is instant. But what about many other things that can only be validated after longer time frame. Let's say if you make a policy/authority AI to administrate a group of people, how would you incentivise its performance? Do you go full technocrats and just tell it to improve some stats like HDI, arbitrary health index, wealth etc? Then it will force them to do thing they wouldnt want and quickly dispose of "bad stats". Do you tell it to just manage what these people want? Then it can validate these people's worse impulse and walk them to their own strife. Do you tell it to just do anything as long as it stays in power? Then we have the absolute shitshow that is current politics. Right now there are several projects to create "character AI" where people can feed them data to make them act like fictional characters of their choice (be it original or copyrighted). Their value is entertainment, right? Atleast that's what those projects claim to be, but entertainment is subjective. So their approach is to let people rate them or train them how they would like. I test some for the shit n giggle and they were the most schizo experience ever. One day one of them act like they have asperger autism, the other day they went nut with delusion of power, next day they perform streak of sadism. And yes, that was with safeguard to prevent socially haram behaviour in current year. It's entertaining and harmless, all right, for now. But what that means is either a lot of people or some people with a lot of time and data keep validating certain behaviour they prefer over the rest.

[@kharijordan6426]

Kinda sad that when creating life in a non sexual way instead of loving it most stores is just it killing humans or humans trying to abuse it. Hey make a story we're it just slice of life with them having a loving family. That would be nice to see.

[@rowrowmrmao6250]

This whole conversation reminds me of a Full Metal Alchemist video that talked about how religion is not the opposite of science but how both are apart of the same concept. If anyone know the videos name that would be much appreciated.

[@riotbreaker3506]

"Is this how you make Dinosaurs?" "No. This is how you play God." -JP3 I like to think the simplest answer is that science is the language of Gods, so to speak. It is the understanding of our structure and being, and what is science fiction if not an interpretation of that language.

[@jackmurray764]

"I am a Catholic, but my girlfriend is an atheist." *So it is possible then. Thank you for granting me strength brother.*

[@johnnykilonzo2103]

But the bible warns that such relationships are a burden yoke

[@jackmurray764]

@johnny kilonzo true, will tread with care. Bible also says that hot girls with low body count are rare

[@johnnykilonzo2103]

@@jackmurray764 state the verse, I am curious? Because last time I checked virginity was considered the Hallmark of beauty among women.

[@jackmurray764]

@@johnnykilonzo2103 I forgor lol

[@madpig7120]

​@@jackmurray764 bro forgor ☠️

[@11jerans]

It’s worth mentioning that although technically secular, the United States Founding Fathers specifically said that the freedom set out in the Bill of Rights were only useful to a religious society

[@varietywiarrior]

They weren't wrong. Boiling it down to the philisophical roots, somebody who is utilitarian cannot justify the Bill of Rights.

[@NA-vz9ko]

And yet, Thomas Jefferson regarded religious myths soberly when he wrote to John Addams in 1823, “the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. but we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away all this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this the most venerated reformer of human errors.” It was indeed the hope of our nations foremost philosopher and well written founder that this veil of tears would be left behind with the exorcism of this archaic, literalist tradition and be replaced by the systems which he helped conceive. His scathing, but correct interpretation of these ancient fables as passing is evidenced by the mountains of discarded and forgotten religious traditions which preceded our own modern ones.

[@phoenixjones7191]

​@@NA-vz9ko"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" Endowed by their creator. That phrase is what gives those unalienable rights authority over kings and tyrants. You need a normative authority that is super ordinate to society in order to establish human rights at all. You call these things myths casually. Think of the price if you are wrong. Think of the world that would come to be if you are right.

[@levongevorgyan6789]

Believing in a deistic creator is not the same as believing in virgin birth or resurrection.

[@NA-vz9ko]

@@phoenixjones7191 Your metanarrative speaks clearly. You're afraid of what will happen if people recognized religion as structures composed of myths regardless of their truth. The establishment of the constitution doesn't appeal to the divine. It "holds these truths to be self evident" instead. No religion or mythmaking necessary. Jefferson believed that the establishment of the United States of America would allow people to "do away with all this artificial scaffolding." He intended that what he wrote would be used to abolish the mythmaking which you hold to so dearly. You're making prescriptive declarations indeed, but you don't know what price will be paid nor what will become of the world if I'm correct. You've abstained from having a conversation about what's correct out of fear. You don't know anything about rights or where they come from, instead choosing to parrot theocratic monsters. I tell you that you're entitled to your beliefs, but I believe it's immoral preach what you just did.

[@RickySpanish7]

I know you made this 5 months ago but I’ve watched this twice since discovering it three hours ago. This is very well made and thought inducing. Good work.

[@joaogregorio6874]

I have been on youtube since its inception in 2005. And i can confidently say that this is my favourite video on the entire website! It articulates incredibly well some of the points I've been trying to make for years. And while I don't necessarily agree with everything, you made all your points with an amazing balance between satire and respect for different opinions. Thank you for this, must've been a lot of effort to make but it turned out excelent!

[@nathanielmarquardt]

Just love the fun fact that the archbishop of Orlando is technically the bishop of the moon as well. Thanks for all the great videos, I always look forward to them.

[@justinamerican8200]

As an atheist, and one who describes himself as an "asshole atheist" back in my youth who thought the pinnacle of human society could not be achieved without the eradication of all religion and most 'spiritualism' (which I read as someone who wants to believe in God but cherry-pick the rules), I have come to the conclusion that I'd generally rather live next to and amongst Christians than my fellow atheists. My fundamental error was in thinking that as humans lost faith, they'd replace it with big-picture thinking, reason, and (at worse) a slavish need for empirical evidence in order to be whipped into action, that their path to atheism would be as thorough as mine had been. Instead, firstly, many people are atheists the same reason many are religious: because they were raised to think thus. If not by their parents, then they were unduly led to it by the surrounding influences of academia*, friends, social media, and entertainment. With the separation of church and state, I never wanted to see kids get indoctrinated into religion in school, but I never stopped to realize the similar danger of them being indoctrinated into absolute atheism, which is to say, becoming an atheist, not through independent thought, but rather because it is what they were told was true before they were capable of working it out for themselves. I accept that whatever I may think of the existence of God, there are people who need God. I no longer am the edgelord that attempts to rob people of that piece of mind. On some level I even envy you believers. I could write a book about this, so I'll leave it here. You don't need religion to be a zealot. Being religious doesn't mean you're unreasonable, and being an atheist is no guarantee of reason. So... FUCK!

[@DaveElectric]

Religion is an advantage. It liberates you from the fear of death and makes it easier to tolerate suffering. To an atheist, anyone threatening death upon them it indistinguishable from a supernatural punishment.

[@arrielradja5522]

An atheist worthy of respect.

[@chocolatebunnies6376]

@@DaveElectric​I doubt that generalisation is widely applicable. Unless you’re using very narrow definitions of atheist and religious. As I believe death will completely end my existence in any form that affects me, it makes no sense to fear it. Several religious paths believe in undesirable continuations, such as reincarnations or hells.

[@deathdog1392]

​@@chocolatebunnies6376 what's an atheists motive to fight? Why would you ever risk your only meaningless life if there's even a chance you'd die. Without God how can you believe in Glory? Without glory, what does victory even mean? So it comes back to what's the point at all? Thats why all philosophy without God leads to suicide, because it's all ultimately meaningless in an atheists eyes. Like it or not Religious belief is an obvious advantage for a variety of reasons.

[@chocolatebunnies6376]

@@deathdog1392 Well, I’m not saying religion isn’t an advantage, just that I doubt fear of death is a major difference between the religious and the atheists. And you seem to be using the word religious in a fairly narrow sense. There are, for example, expressions of Buddhism and Judaism that lie closer to atheism, compared to most versions of Christianity. You’re right that humans need meaning, and it’s probably easier with religion, but it’s not impossible without. (I don’t understand what you mean by glory. Sounds like a terrible and proud reason for fighting.) (I don’t speak for atheists. Yet I will. In part.) Fighting to the death is not a risk/problem when life is meaningless. Nothing is lost, freedom from existence is gained. But if there’s absolutely no meaning, there’s no reason to fight, to do anything. But atheists can have meaning. For example through love of friends, curiosity, optimism about the future of humanity (possibly through scientific advances), self-expression, general enjoyment, empathy, (the list is endless, and probably much the same as for a religious person.) In which case one may want to fight for the continuation of something other than oneself. The world can be ultimately meaningless, yet momentarily meaningful (during the existence of the structures one has decided to value.) Religious perspectives can (at worst) get too caught up in the end, and lose the meaning of the present.

[@robertfaer4522]

I think the biggest takeaway here is that many things are open to interpretation. I was most shocked to hear you take a joking affect to your voice when discussing 2001. While there are a lot of easy to spot surface themes in many of these works a lot of them could be analyzed in their own hours long videos from many angles and defy the simple religious categorization you put on them. Not because they're immune from being seen that way but because it's like pointing at a rainbow coming out of a prism and calling it white light, insisting it's all the same, when it's clearly very broad and mixed.

[@darthjekyll3648]

Do you think warhammer could have a long lost human colony based on capitalism, semi-protestantism, and semi-secularism. Plus some ai battle droids with malice in the background using them.

[@respectfulevil9022]

I think another theme of warhammer is that you should never trust a bald guy

[@johnstacy4682]

Except for the black bald ones.

[@respectfulevil9022]

@@johnstacy4682 yup

[@simphiwe4930]

I think you clumped together two different uses of the word random/reason: 1.) Random = No purpose or meaning or Reason = Has purpose or meaning 2.) Random = Illogical or Reason = Logical. I'm not quite sold that those two always imply the other, especially in that 1 does not necessarily imply 2 (e.g. something meaningful or purposeful does not imply that it is logical and vice versa)💭.

[@Thalanox]

I strongly approve of you expressing this idea, and I also strongly concur that these are different meanings of the words.

[@htth3152]

Agree. The entire argument from reason part was borderline word salad for me. The link to C S Lewis' version of the argument was flimsy too, as he talked specifically about human reason and knowledge, and not of these absolutes.

[@justsomerandomdudeontheint99]

I disagree. Logic is merely the act of giving something purpose and/or meaning. If I do something random, it is devoid of meaning because I didn't give it any thought/logic. If I do something and thought it through, I have given it purpose. If I were to press numbers on a keypad at random, it would be devoid of logic, I'm not thinking and just doing it at random, and purpose, I have no reason for doing this. I think the disconnect in ideas comes from the fact that Christianity places even the creation of the universe as an act of reason. An atheist would characterize this as devoid of logic as there is no mind to create it. But it's also not random as it was created due to rules, the rules of physics to be precise, and therefore isn't completely random. There are Christian disagreements for how this is even possible, and therefore, everything has its start in logic and purpose. Making them related entirely. To put it more coherently, the lack of overlap between logic and purpose comes from the idea that an action can have a purpose without a sentient being behind it. This would include natural processes as they have purpose, photosynthesis as an example has the purpose of plants creating food for themselves, but no logic as there isn't a mind behind that action. Christianity doesn't allow for this line of thinking as everything that would have a purpose but no logic was created by an act of logic, God's creation of the universe, and therefore there is a complete overlap.

[@rolandrush5172]

That’s great framing. Cosmic horror is an Atheist meeting God. That makes so much narrative sense for the stories. Theophobia

[@lornajames]

Yes now I would like him to explain how the fuck did he screwed up the world so badly if he was truly omnipotent and omniscient like you had the foresight you could have stopped it.

[@floydbaker2240]

Or a religious man meeting THE WRONG GOD. That too would be equal in terror and awe I would imagine.

[@IN_FeNi_TY]

I like these type of long videos. Please don't stop making them.

[@Omnio0]

I totally agree. Those who claim no god yet still claim morals are so delusional to me. They simultaneously condemn heinous acts and praise good acts while not having an objective point of view on morality. I had a long talk with my friends about this and they had no answer. They just kept repeating themselves saying “it’s just better to be good” and WOW The paradoxical nature of such a statement is so obvious yet they refuse to acknowledge it because they hate the idea of God. Yet they are also so comfortable thinking I’M the one not using logic when i say morals can ONLY come from God

[@Jane-ow7sr]

This! They claim to be moral and good yet they constantly contradict themselves and support very obvious evil things that they're blind to. Religion isn't really about god's or if they exist or not. It's a road of value and morals that guide you forward through life. How can someone stay true to what they believe in when they wander aimlessly with no path to keep them disciplined with their belief? Sorry I'm not very good with words.

[@edorasmarauder5761]

Maybe you should find better friends. It's not healthy to have ones that ridicule you every time you try to talk about your beliefs.

[@Omnio0]

@@edorasmarauder5761 i don’t see them as things to avoid. I see them as people in need of a savior. And i work to try and show them to Jesus. I have accepted that no matter where i go, there will always be ridicule. But i don’t hate people for their ignorance. I try and see beyond it. And beyond every ridicule is a soul that should be loved and helped.

[@bryanmcclure2220]

The last church is a story I find deeply ironic. Mainly because the emperor is lying through his teeth the entire time. Warhammer 40K is the world where the supernatural is most certainly real and there are actually many different gods. The Imperial truth is actually the only religion in warhammer 40K that is certainly not true. Are many gods alive within the warp, Their mere existence makes then any other religion at the very least plausible. This ironically makes within 40k religious position actually more logical than the Imperial truth.

[@xx_amongus_xx6987]

True. Unfortunately this kind of makes the emperor look like a moron as if he was trying to deny the existence of the supernatural/spiritual in order to make everyone "atheistic and rational", it would be irrational and pointless. Maybe there's some obscure lore that explains this oversight.

[@drooskie9525]

Warhammer 40k is actually basically how pagans saw (and still see) the world, more or less. The only real difference is the Materialism - much the same problem with ghostbusters. that's all modernist ideas of what spirits and such are.

[@bryanmcclure2220]

@@xx_amongus_xx6987 It's quite simple really same reason he kept a secret of the warp from his sons. He thought tje information Was dangerous and Detrimental to his plans to take for humanity. Put it simply in his mind the best way to Prevent someone from following the chaos gods Was To convince them that they were no gods at all. Thus limit the influence of outside forces on humand or so he hoped. This is the Ended up backfiring on him creating the Horence heresy.

[@AndreNitroX]

53:00 this is the video I have been wanting to explain why I see so many religious themes in science fiction and why it works. As a Christian I love sci-fi films that like Star Wars where I can find themes that I can use to explain my own spirituality and relationship with Jesus. This essay was so profound and thought provoking, you are really impressive my brother.

[@internetfasting80085]

Cinema is like any other method of communication, it propagates the narratives, beliefs and experiences of the authors,...and also sales pitches motivated by corporations to maintain sales & converts. So with centuries of nostalgia epigenetically preprogramming our collective subconscious, its no wonder all these stories sell so well, they all in one way or another function as a form of confirmation bias echo chambers validating (in the vagguist possible ways) our own senses of selfs & places in the world/society. im guessing 😂

[@johnnykilonzo2103]

As a recovering porn addict, I can say you are spot on that we find God in everything even though at first we rationalize that it is not that. In the end, our whole looks for pleasure some in violence others in Movies others like us in porn. But in the end the pleasure of eternity in Lord Jesus It's something can never be taken from us and it's something as a born again Christian I am looking forward to enjoy as I find forgiveness in myself towards heaven. Be blessed Pilgrim pass.

[@d0dge407]

here is a tip. Don't say recovering or trying to quit. Have it in your mentality that you ALREADY quit and will therefore work to do that if you have not already, to not be a fraud

[@johnnykilonzo2103]

@@d0dge407 indeed grateful for the advice. Christ says all is done yet we all do the opposite

[@macgregorlangston5274]

Great video! You made excellent points which will hopefully spark further discussion for many. One of the interesting aspects of whether America’s founding was secular or not is that it is still heavily debated today. Scholars tend to fall into one of three camps: the belief that Christianity, especially reformed Protestantism, was the majority influence for the revolution and founding of America, the belief that John Locke and enlightenment values were the primary driver, and the somewhat weaker argument that Americans are basically modern Greeks and Romans who founded another classical republic and strictly believed in republican values of virtue (this was a very popular belief in the mid to late 20th century, but has later been deemed somewhat shaky and more focused on finding other reasons for the founding aside from Christianity and enlightenment ideals than factual analysis). All three influences clearly had some role, but scholars still can’t seem to make up their mind about the amounts each one held sway. Some things which add to the importance of Christianity in America, in spite of the modern secular interpretations of separation of church and state, are how nearly all writings and laws on religious freedom tended to be focused more towards freedom for different Christian denominations, and maybe other Abrahamic religions if they were feeling especially progressive. even the focus on not establishing a state church was driven by Adam Smith’s idea of commoditizing religion to prevent holy wars, but Washington had his famous Thanksgiving proclamation, which was inherently Christian in nature, the day after the first amendment was adopted, indicating that the founders still saw faith as important to government, but not the need for one consensus and a state church. TLDR: America at its founding was far more religious than some modern secular scholars will admit and that religiosity was paramount to having an effective republic as Alexis de Tocqueville observed. This is why America has lasted far longer than any truly secular republic, and its ability to persist will be heavily dependent on how each generation manages American religiosity and mores moving forward. Keep up the great content!

[@armandopena4929]

I think when people say everything in the universe is random what they mean is that everything is *unpredictable* . Of course, all things and events have cause and effect, but because we cannot predict the "what", the "when" or the "why" of said things or events, we say they're random; because we cannot find an explination for them.

[@rafaelazevedo5904]

This doesn't really explain chaotic systems, which appear random, but their movements and patterns are completely deterministic. If you have enough information, you could always tell which side a coin would land on even though it appears random.

[@luisostasuc8135]

@@rafaelazevedo5904 em, i would suggest you look up a double pendulum, if only to demonstrate that adding relatively little to any system can complicate it well beyond a linear increase

[@rafaelazevedo5904]

@@luisostasuc8135 This doesn't disprove what I said, however. If you apply the same change to two different double pendulums, they would follow the same movement. Deterministic systems are not necessarily predictable, but that doesn't mean they're random.

[@alaiaylaia3676]

@@rafaelazevedo5904If we could know where exactly each particle is and what it's doing then indeed we could predict everything with certainty. That was the go to belief for quite some time. Has been pretty much shattered to pieces by the introduction of quantum mechanics into our understanding of reality tho.

[@rafaelazevedo5904]

@@alaiaylaia3676 Indeed, but that is due to the fact that the universe is not a chaotic system, unlike the example I gave. I think it's a matter of proportion and scale, kinda of like how it's the opposite in human behavior; We can't predict individuals, however, in large groups of people, we can determine many things about their behavior and who they are.

[@kangaroocaliphate1577]

Half way through, still have to pause and reflect here and there. Incredible work, by someone who's obviously able to think incredibly deeply.

[@jamesdavey9690]

Brilliant work! Pilgrims Pass is fast becoming one of my favourite channels on youtube.

[@kiracaos]

Thank you my brother, for once again strenghtening my faith in God with one of your videos. I needed it.

[@beastlysquigg3678]

Yo, last week my family watched your avatar/Mononoke video. We talked for hours afterwards. You are genuinely inspiring.

[@MrHellknightimp]

Never liked EVE as a game but the lore is pretty cool, Second most powerful faction tech wise is a brutal theocracy that will given enough time over power the high tech faction as the theocracy is still having babies.

[@dragonturtle2703]

To be fair, humanity IRL can’t get rid of dogmatic authoritarianism. Even in western democracies, we still have moral panics leading to bans and criminal laws because the dominant faction got offended.

[@MortdeathMinis]

A very well articulated , researched and presented video! love your work.

[@Spartan878455]

Something that stuck out to me in Star Control 3 (yes, I know that game was not the best) was the talk with a precursor when we select the dialogue option asking the being why it was using a bunch of mystical metaphors to describe things. Its answer surprised me when it says basically, eventually, such language and lingo become the only way to communicate such universal concepts and truths, and that one other species (the Pkunk) understood this.

[@davidogundipe808]

Good to see you back Pilgrim! The reason science fiction is a religion, is due to some sense of higher power, or greater force that we birth myths and dedicate festivals and celebrations to.

[@thisispenguin1951]

This was fantastic and incredibly insightful! Always a pleasure to see a new Pilgrim video released! Keep it up, man. Seriously

[@ixelaakiko8784]

Great video!! I enjoyed it very much, it gave me a some new things to think about and there were a few books that I didn't yet knew about and will read now.

[@aguspuig6615]

I agree that the more technology advances the more a religious and secular view of the world seem to be pretty close. The biggest diference for me is the concept of miracles, because by definition, miracles are supernatural and dont follow the laws of our universe, thats why, as silly as it might sound i think the technobabble in scfi serves a very important purpose, yeah its innacurate often and its just a bunch of random words, but it signals that theres a logic behind it, even if you yourself dont understand it, instead of ''this is a miracle, you CANT understand it by definition''. So i think saying that we might live in a computer simulation isnt an atheists way to weasle out of addmiting he thinks theres a god, atheism isnt necesarily incompatible with a powerfull immortal intelligence having a huge impact on, or even creating the universe, an atheist could say: ''yes, there is a ''god'' of sorts, but it differs from religion because it can be explained, its not super natural, just really powerfull and beyond our *current* understanding, key word, current'. And in just the same way christianity isnt incompatible with say, the theory of evolution, God can still create the universe and then let evolution happen, instead of just creating everything pretty much as it is now. I agree that it is pretty funny to hear scientists consider things like simulation theory, but thats not on atheism in my opinion, its on *those* types of atheists, you know, Neil Tyson babbling on about how religion is for dummies and THEN addmiting we might live in a simulation. I personally, have respect for religion, but i cant bring myself to accept the idea of the supernatural, im not sure about the official definition of God, if a god can be just a really powerfull being then im an agnostic, thats to say i have no proof that convinces me of the existance of a god but im not oposed to the idea. Now if a god is a being that by definition HAS to have supernatural powers, that cant be explained trough science, then im an atheist, because i am convinced that no such thing can exist, ironically i have faith in the idea that everything can be explained, because so many things we thought unexplainable ended up being explained, so even tho i dont know that same rule applies to all of the universe, it logically follows that it does, and thats kiiinda like faith i guess. Also respect for a fellow Rainworld enjoyer, when i heard ''the tragic beauty of this indie game'' i thought in a split second ''imagine hes talking about Rainworld, nahhh impossible''. And i found it interesting how you put it, Rainworld made me think too, but it didnt make me think because of its few dialogue or characters and the philosophical questions they pose, it started to make the think from the start just from its beauty, visually and musically, the V I B E S i guess, there are other beautifull games and movies, but Rainworld is the only one that just trough simple beauty has made me have one of those almost religious ''there has to be something more to this world'' moments as an atheist. Honestly i wish you did a video on it, because i cant quite explain why a game like Rainworld, wich during most of the game has nothing supernatural about it seems to provoke so much thought on people just by virtue of being visually inspiring.

[@lornajames]

Umm they didn't admit that a God might exist he was just speculating that we might be in a computer simulation and isn't Neil tyrson an agnostic

[@lornajames]

@@RudolfHillers yeah I agree the the biblical god doesn't really make much sense at all especially in the stories regarding him and humanity especially Noah's ark I can get where your coming from actually

[@mrbigglezworth42]

@@lornajames That only begs the question of how would you know you're in a simulation, and possibly the follow up of how is that any less absurd then believing an all powerful entity known as God created everything. At the end point you'd still be the creation of something, but only one posits that you aren't an illusion.

[@XvicvicX]

​@Rudolf Hillers Firstly, God never "tried to wipe out evil and failed" in Genesis, regarding the Flood, what happened is that God found in Noah the only just man in the Earth, in summary, God allowed Noah and his familiy to live because he considered them the only just humans on Earth at the moment, the others were corrupt and gave in to violence and sin, and death was their punishment. Secondly, your claims that the story was "stolen" from other epics is unfounded. There are many accounts of a "great Flood" on Earth from different and completely separeted cultures across history that even predates the Epic of Gilgamesh (which, by the way, is a work composed of various sources and tablets over the centuries), which suggests that they are a byproduct of an even older, common historical event. What you claim is an assumption, one that is not even remotely unanimous on the academic field. And about the Exodus, once more, an assumption that lacks any proper reserach: there are accounts of ancient egyptian armory deep beneath the Red Sea near the strait of Suez (the place which is suggested to be where Moses and the hebrews crossed), there is also the research of Henri Chevrier in 1947, among many other archeological evidences.

[@XvicvicX]

@Rudolf Hillers Might aswell do your own research, I'm not a library to which you are entitled to inquire. But I suggest reading about the Weld-Blundell prism, The Gilgamesh Epic e Old Testament Parallels (1943), "The Coherence of the Flood" (1975) and the findings of Henri Chevrier for a start, and, of course, actual theological analysis about the passages contained in the Bible, it will prevent another terribly wrong interpretation like yours about Noah.

[@rowanheiney1238]

Aw heck yes! A Pilgrim's Pass video about religion and Sci-Fi ON MY BIRTHDAY! Thanks for the surprise present dude! God bless!

[@crusader2112]

Happy Birthday man.

[@pajamaninja2157]

happy birthday

[@rowanheiney1238]

@@crusader2112 Thanks!

[@rowanheiney1238]

@@pajamaninja2157 You too!

[@pajamaninja2157]

@@rowanheiney1238 I was about to say it's not birthday, but I see you mean "thank you" to which I say you're welcome. Although funny enough it is going to be my birthday in 10 days

[@Danger_N00dle]

TL;DR **I wouldn't say "Reason" is Random, nor would I say it's preceding anything, I'd argue "Reason'" is the product/consequences of pragmatic thinking just like Mathematics and the rules of Logic. It is inherent to sentient life,** I'd argue the argument of "reason" as you've talked about has one big flaw and it's in the way you presented it. I'd argue that reason is simply the consequences of pragmatism. Pragmatism is simply about using your environment in ways that benefice you. If I believe fire is dangerous, I won't play with it. If I don't, chances are I'll end up hurting myself (or others) with it. Pragmatic behavior increase survival rates and intelligence leads to reasons through pragmatic principle. As reasons helps making prediction which can further survival, etc... It's something that is created out of practicality rather than something that always existed. It's the same principle for mathematics and logics. They are made up ideas we've came out with out of practical necessities. They help us, hence we use them. I have to disagree on your point where you essentially said "If existence is random, then everything within existence must be random as well" I believe they are different things. For instance, You could in principle create a bunch of different physics simulation and randomize the settings (laws of physics) within each simulation The stuff what will happen inside each of these simulation won't be random, they will follow very precise parameters which were simply randomly assigned to each simulations

[@emanuelbugaj7078]

Really great essay. You've inspired me into some realy deep thoughts and cherish my believes more. Thank you

[@Severian1]

Pilgrim, how can you make this excellent video and not talk about the Book of the New Sun? The relationship between secularism and religion is so thoroughly explored in the book it's amazing. Gene Wolfe was a Catholic and it shows in the work and he explores Teilhard's ideas about theistic evolution and other concepts obliquely. If you haven't read him please look him up. I hope you make a video about it.

[@bryanmcclure2220]

Never heard of it but it sounds really interesting.

[@b.melakail]

The Pringle man💜

[@BooksRebound]

I want to like it so badly but I've tried to read it like 4 times and just haven't been able to get engaged and immersed, despite it seeming right up my alley. I read 100+ SFF books a year and New Sun sounds like it appeals perfectly to my tastes, but I just can't get into it :(

[@Severian1]

@@BooksRebound That's okay! BOTNS is a hard read, deliberately. There's a neat story on the surface but the narrator is trying to present himself in a certain way to his audience (which is not us readers) so he'll obfuscate, or take things for granted, or skip over things, or give things out of context. I only "got it" on my second read through and now it's my favorite work of all time. But my first read was difficult. I hope you give it a try again some day but life's too short to keep trying a book that's not working for you.

[@Severian1]

@@bryanmcclure2220 It really is. Absolutely worth a try.

[@BrickmasterinKy]

This is why I watch KZbin. Being able to absorb this knowledge from many different sources all in a stylish package to consume much easier. Subbed.

[@eryck9857]

I don’t believe that existence is completely random however I think that this doesn’t mean that it is with intent or reason. In essence we are reactive beings that don’t act randomly but to what surrounds us, which I think originated from an initial state of randomness. Humanity and the awareness are just byproducts of that initial randomness which lead to our environment/universe. That means that I believe that reality adapted in order to create balance or order from the original randomness, giving the following occurrences a rational explanation.

[@eryck9857]

There can be logical explanation without there being a reason or a divine goal

[@christiandelao2547]

It's called world building, it adds depth and history to a setting, motivations and morality to characters, it gives the viewer a sense of the politics and power structure in a recognizable way, and gives the authors a way to connect groups of characters together, I wouldn't say it's quiet as prevalent or important to scifi stories as you seem to imply, it's pretty prevalent in any genre really

[@fabienherry6690]

The issue is the back and forth between spirituality and catholism. At some point he talk about the meaning of existence and the myths/belief we have to navigate that reality and conclude that since all story have that then all story have religion and since we are so addicted to religion we need baby jesus (i'm caricaturing). But that the main issue i would say

[@MaticTheProto]

Well put

[@aguspuig6615]

There are two strawmans. The atheist that cant even fathom religion being usefull or good in any concept because ''religious wars bad guys, science good''. And the veliber that takes the texts so literally he thinks evolution didnt happen. Both still exist for some reason, but most atheists and velibers have much more in common than they respectively have to the strawman versions of themselves, wich is good it means we are at least making sense.

[@mado-wh4jv]

The evolution stuff is the main reason why I left religion. The bible wasn't written by any God, what it provides are dogmatic and traditional knowledge that was certainly useful back then, but it shouldn't stop us from studying better. A preventive rule is just useful for saving us from greater dangers (Food poisoning, slavery, ethnic extinction) but when those dangers are no longer a thread, there's no point in keeping them for the most part.

[@JPG.01]

I have an explanation for why we have so much holy war in sci-fi. It's probably based on the need for conflict in a story. So we need a source of conflict. But we still operate on the false belief that scientific advancement will enlighten us beings beyond war. And other civilizations, which are just as much if not more advanced as us, would be as well. So war has to be something archaic, something from the dark past. So religion is the boogeyman to pick.

[@Vox_Popul1]

This is a much better explanation to be honest. Unfortunately, this channel seems a lot more interested in inserting religious interpretations of media, regardless whether it makes sense or not.

[@tarektechmarine8209]

And war won't come off atheism?

[@keyboardplayer532]

I don't get why reason and intelligence cant be an emerging property of systems that get larger and larger. Like 1 and can't reason but a colony can. Why does it mandate design?

[@JaySwag77]

Loved your video, this was incredibly interesting!

[@MilesMariae]

Amazed by the amount of sci-fi you have read. Great research, especially on lovecraft. Some great reading suggestions. On Lewis I love the first two but the third II found just weird. When I was a youngster, I too had a powerful insight into God through rationality. My insight was that reality is 'dripping with intelligability'. That reality as meaningful is found as such, that that meaningfulness presents itself to our minds. A second step was then to appreciate that the capacity of our minds is to add new layers of intelligibility to reality the intelligible reality. From that I came to appreciate the cause of intelligibility as mind, a supreme creator mind. I am now a Catholic Priest and, of course, arguments from theology explain why I am a Catholic, but, like you, it was being startled by 'meaning' as a reality irreducible to randomness or chaos or its constituent parts. Thanks again.

[@lornajames]

Meaning is mostly or entirely subjective

[@frankie3010]

@@lornajames that is only something that an atheist could say

[@lornajames]

@@frankie3010 yes because it's true you make your own meaning like what is wrong about that now?

[@torpenhigalak5909]

@@frankie3010 Only a fool would make himself deluded that faith and reason is intertwined when other cling to the belief so fervently yet the other can falsifiable into being and assess into correction entirely. He's a belief intertwined with Abrahamic idealism and Christian basis of morality is repugnant knowing full well its hypocrisy.

[@firstorder438]

@@lornajames You 100% do not make your own meaning for anything, everything you know and learned came from someone elses knowledge, hell even your emotional makeup is determined within the first 5 years of your life with the interactions with your parents. Everything is learned nothing is subjective there is a absolute truth to everything, and that Truth is Jesus :) God Bless my friend.

[@kothargalro6415]

Hey, man, I just want you to know that I absolutely love your content. I’m mostly on the road for my job, and your videos get me through the day. You’ve got incredible insights, and I’ll get home and spend hours discussing it with roommates lol Please keep up the good work, life will have no meaning when u stop uploading lol You’re awesome. I love you.

[@GoldenRuffian]

Amazing video!

[@jfitz6517]

Great video, fascinating, loved it!

[@FilipeSilva_FSilval007-q1]

A though of my own: Politics are something "primitive". It is just like what animals do, they struggle for position and power, they rule by force or charisma. Our great governments aren't much different from bands of wild creatures if you squint hard enough.

[@Broomer52]

As they say “the more things change the more they stay the same”

[@Nutellafuerst]

Terrific video, pilgrim. It would be sick if you ever did a video solely about 40k. It is an awesome setting in the way it is simply fun but also kind of deep - the Imperium of Man is imho far more realistic than for example the Confederacy from Star Trek.

[@pugsondrugs5480]

I’m not a huge fan of unironic grimdark, so I still love 40k’s lore but don’t gel with most of the books. The exception is the Ciaphas Cain series, which I feel still shows the degree religion penetrates imperial society. Cain is openly irreverent towards religion and doesn’t like going to church, but at the same time the Imperial cult’s dogma pops up in his internal narrative every 10 sentences or so, and a lot of his deep, fundamental beliefs are clearly pure Imperial cult.

[@flamestoyershadowkill6400]

he did in the past

[@thebighurt2495]

@@pugsondrugs5480 Funnily enough, Cain technically shows faith in the official AdMech religion, too. He got offended when some Heretics set up in a Shrine to the Omnissiah (which they defaced, may the cog crush their benighted souls), even saying it was a shrine to the Emperor. He's also prayed to the Machine Spirits a couple times.

[@marocat4749]

I wouldnt call it more realistic,like there are the chaosgods to drive that, and star trek wasnt supposed to be realist, it wasalways supposed to be idealist, thats why people like it. Because itsmote about ideasfor a good future and like rassism defeated than anything else. And its relevant, because as that it even drove progressa fair bit. Its supposed to give ideals, not grim realism. Also warhammer is satire, even if durprising elsborate one. Its probablynot that realist either. Humsns cand live of grim alone and need positive.

[@creed8712]

@@pugsondrugs5480I feel like 40k gets almost unfoundedly labeled as grim dark. The boys comic is grim dark, as is Crossed. The darkness of 40k is about on par with its inspiration in 2000 ad. Meaning visually the implications are horrific but then there’s things like the league of fatties or Da green boyz Avin a waaagh.

[@Christ.247]

56:23 My world view just CRACKED dude whoa

[@fynlive6228]

i just discovered you, and this is literally the best video i have seen in 2 years. blew my expectations out the water. :)

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

Also, the Matrix trilogy is one of my favourite movies ever made, at least partially because it is a non-nihilistic piece of science ficiton. The first AI, created under vague circumstances, creates an entire race of machines, and some of those machines can upload themselves into a human brain. A man who has wizard powers in virtual reality can take his power into the real world and use it.

[@madmank7881]

It's not surprising if you understand one thing science was born from religion as people wanting to understand reality made gods, but as we learned more they were no longer needed in the form that they were in so the gods did not die they just changed in their appearance making a new religion.

[@justincurll1110]

Thank you for this awesome video.

[@gregorymanucharyan6283]

The topic goes a long way so instead of writing a whole paragraph I am just going to mention how good the video was. I liked the video structure, humor and the narration. 👍

[@jaegerbomb269]

I'm glad you mentioned 40k. Would love to see a Space Marine video! For the Emperor!

[@bannedmann4469]

What are those MFers from the Tomb worlds called? He called em AI and I know that's wrong.

[@frankie3010]

@@bannedmann4469 Necrons

[@lukalovric2463]

@@bannedmann4469 They kinda are

[@bannedmann4469]

@@lukalovric2463 They're were from an organic race. Not AI, middle ground that shouldn't be labeled as so. You wrote "kind of for a reason"..

[@requiemlul3140]

@@bannedmann4469 They were made from the Necrontyr, but they aren’t like Admech that Sue human brains in their machines. The lords have their personality modeled after the original, but they are in fact AI‘s controlled by a CPU.

[@11jerans]

The creators of South Park I believe once said that of all the religions and beliefs they’ve encountered and studied in the world, the most ridiculous and ill-conceived was that the whole universe and all of humanity was “just because”.

[@fabienherry6690]

That why i'm agnostic : i don't know how the universe was "made" but i also think it's not made by an omnipotent god that made a thing this messed up. I can believe in a powerful existance creating our universe and having done a big goofed here and there. But then if the thing isn't perfect and a meta existance what created it ? Cause a omnipotent god could have created a world exactly as he wanted and if the world is exactly what he wanted then we are in danger and shouldn't venerate the thing ! (Or we should in fear that he would just destroy everything in a fit of rage or shouldn't because it's exactly what he wanted?). Omnipotence is in itself antithesis to existence

[@levongevorgyan6789]

Those guys have their fair share of idiotic takes. And this is one of them. Its not “just because” it’s “we don’t know”.

[@realdragon]

@@levongevorgyan6789 Leave it to theists to twisting and not understanding what atheists say

[@no1ofconsequence936]

This was an interesting take on the subject. I hadn't really noticed how much sci-fi could be religious. I'm a Baptist, and while my primary focus in writing and recreational reading is fantasy, I like sci-fi too sometimes. I think you bring up good points, and the idea of an atheist crusader would be an interesting topic for a novel. I can imagine their foes start to become more and more religious as they find that it really help, thus defeating the very point of the crusade doubly (the first time being going on the crusade in the first place). I would be careful though; I don't like religious vs atheist themes, and I would prefer coexistence and tolerance go both ways, as we make our choices and they make theirs. Still, maybe I can involve it in some small ways, like the religious states not requiring religiosity in those that they ally with. And given your points, it would be the perfect time to use Tolkien's motif of evil destroying itself; state atheism being unstable and all that. In any case, I enjoyed your video and I'm glad I had the time for it. Thank you.

[@jhnyjoejoe69]

I love this video, you address many of my thoughts and ideas ive had in the last 20 years.

[@anyanyanyanyanyany3551]

I noticed some of the older scifi animes (especially mechas) like Evangelion and Fafner also draw heavily from various religions, though they tend to mix Christianity in with other pagan religions and call it a day. Fafner does much better in making better use of religious narratives, while Evangelion only takes different symbols and mash them together, making it religiously incoherent. one anime in particular that stands out to me is the scifi anime Inuyashiki, which is more philosophical in nature yet requires answers that are at least religious, if not biblical.

[@whathell6t]

@Anyanyany Those weren’t Abrahamic symbols. That was Ultraman fanfic aesthetics. Evangelion is 70% inspired, influenced, and impacted by Ultraman franchise. That franchise is created by a Catholic convert, Eiji Tsuburaya, and he used his background to craft the lore and arc of Ultraman.

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

Asians portraying Christianity wrong? Well, imagine yourself portraying Hinduism. (yes, all that simple)

[@Zerorenren4761]

According to Evangelion's author(Hideaki Anno) he only added the christianity symbology because he found it cool.

[@LunilWormwood]

Don't know if you've watched The Orville but it's a great sci-fi show that's actually been doing some new things with the genre. One of them being an alien race called the Krill that became more fervent in their religion as their technology advanced. One of the ongoing plot threads is the Planetary Union trying to start a dialogue with them, which of course is very difficult since they view every other sentient species as heretical.

[@Tacticslion]

I love The Orville, but the Planetary Union and crew of the Orville is infuriatingly smug and anti-religious to an absurd degree. Spoilers (minor) below: “There are demons here.” “Cool, you ignorant savages are religious, so we can ignore you and go without any protection whatsoever.” This is just one moment, of course, but it is one example among many. There is never a religious element presented as positive in the show-even when (effectively) correct, as this context, is strictly negative and foolishness. And, again, I am a Christian, and I love the show, but it’s views on religion are amusingly negative, for sure. (The crew of The Orville are arrogant and myopic anyway, and sometimes have good insight and are often just… bafflingly incapable of seeing morality other than their own.)

[@barrybend7189]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Kirk in Star Trek. He never outright went reddit atheist but he did either challenge powerful beings with a god complex or debated with godlike beings about their actions. The culmination of which was in Star Trek 5 with his memeworthy line of "What does God need with a Starship?"

[@Hunter12396]

@@barrybend7189 I don't know how you draw that conclusion. Kirk knew that all of those god-like beings were just God - like, not actually God. When 'god' in ST5 said he needed help to get out of his prison, that tipped Kirk off that he wasn't all-powerful, and therefore wasn't God. God wouldn't need a starship, was his point.

[@barrybend7189]

@@Hunter12396 I would point out he did encounter V'ger an accidental man made God but wasn't outright hostile. In many cases he always looked at the beings in an individual perspective. His whole "what does God need with a Starship" line is not a refute against the "god" being the God but asking why it needs something material in the first place. His earliest adventures also dealt with this. Let's not forget about Charlie X, the Enterprise's first trip across the galactic barrier and his time meeting Lucifer. But out of all of them he shows his respect during the events of The Motion Picture after V'ger finally fulfilled it's purpose.

[@Hunter12396]

@@barrybend7189 "His whole "what does God need with a Starship" line is not a refute against the "god" being the God but asking why it needs something material in the first place." I disagree. He asks why it would need something material in the first place because God, being all-powerful, wouldn't. I follow the philosophic idea that God must be inherently all-powerful by definition; all of the other beings you mention were just very powerful or had technology/magic beyond understanding.

[@TruePT]

Awesome vid as always

[@manog6236]

the book recommendations are fire

[@knowledgeablebro6970]

As an atheist, I find your video essay exceptionaly informative and your religious perspective refreshing to be quite honest. I always found the prospect of an all powerful god existing to be somewhat Lovecraftian for some reason. I subscribe to the Jordan Peterson notion that religions, in many aspects, was necessary for the domination of our species and had more positive consequences than negative ones. Which made this video truly enlightening. I highly recommend you to read the Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin and do an analysis on it, as there's a lot of cosmic horror and religious aspects in it that I'm sure you will appreciate.

[@frankie3010]

Don't be an atheist. You'll have greater peace in life.

[@lornajames]

@@frankie3010 why shouldn't he be an atheists what you don't think atheists don't have any greater meaning or purpose in their life just because they don't believe in your god and besides it his choice not yours or anyone else's

[@frankie3010]

@@lornajames no, I don't think that. Atheism is not a belief in nothing. It's a belief in yourself, in being smarter than God. It's a neverending game of chess you play against reality and it's a game you'll lose.

[@Knoloaify]

@@frankie3010 But it's not, the idea that you think yourself to be smarter than God requires that you believe that God exists in the first place, which only makes sense if you're a Theist. Hell, I didn't even "choose" to be an Atheist. I simply never have been convinced by any argument for the existence of God(s).

[@lornajames]

@@frankie3010 you think atheism is a belief in being smarter than God yeah that only makes sense if your a theist of course but no that's not true and that is clear blanton misrepresention like is it so hard for you to accept that there people who don't believe in God or should I be more specific your god and where not fighting against reality as you like to say if you ask me it's you people who fight against reality with the way you people deny certain sciences which I am not going to specify which and claiming events as obviously false as the great flood true with the amount of inconsistencies

[@aninconsequentialobserver]

Great video. You mentioned High Crusade is your third favorite book. It would be very interesting to know what the two above it are.

[@AndreNitroX]

Yes

[@soulbreakerthelastmanalive]

You're views and ideology is beyond impeccable, I agree with so much of what you saw and though I probably differ on religious theology I am glad to call you my brother in christ. Thank you for giving us such a great video with excellent insight.

[@junothepeasant]

This was a very interesting and enjoyable video. I can see many of your points. One of my criticisms though would be that a huge chunk of the video was dedicated to "apologetics", which are still widely debated between atheist and religious scholars. It might have been necessary for your point, but I feel like it may have distracted atheist viewers from getting your point about religion in scif-fi so that they can criticize the points you are making, which need more time than a video essay about religious themes in scifi. Other than that, I found a lot of the stories, examples, and philosophies you brought up to be new things I've not heard or heard little of, so thank you for peaking my interest in some new topics, as well as some books you suggested that I might read when I have the time. Not sure if you will ever read this, but if you do, may you be blessed on your future endeavours.

[@Augustus_Imperator]

“It’s almost as if science said, “Give me one free miracle, and from there the entire thing will proceed with a seamless, causal explanation", the one free miracle being the sudden appearance of all the matter and energy in the universe, with all the laws that govern it.” ― Rupert Sheldrake, The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry

[@alexp1408]

I would argue that the reason science in science fiction stories and perhaps even real life eventually retreat into religion is because of the mind-body problem. If science ever reliably resolves this problem then this cycle might be broken. This is because we will finally have a concrete connection between the subject and the object. There will be no ambiguities regarding the manner in which our bodies pick up on the raw data of our environment and transmit it to our brains where it is turned into the perceived material reality that we understand. This will give us the potential to go from being the subjects of our environment to become the custodians of our environment. Our reality will become one that can only be understood by means of pure scientific rationality there will be no superstition because there is no room left for ambiguity to hide in. In Kantian terminology, we will finally have gained access to the Thing-in-itself. As paradoxical as this may sound time and space will become our playing things. Time and space will exist independently of each other, time will exist without space and space will exist without time. The theory of relativity will no longer be applicable. Of course, this is the best-case scenario. The other side of this coin is that the mind-body problem is like that of a Hydra's head. The solving of the problem will only spawn two more heads to replace it in the form of even greater unanswerable questions. The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. The revelation of this Knowledge might very well like Lovecraft predicted sent us hurdling back into the warm embrace of religion.

[@sgmx757]

Great video brother.

[@michaelman957]

I'm glad you referenced the Christeo War and showed "For Greater Glory" clips. Great movie, phenomenal story.