On the Origin of Religion

Since the dawn of recorded time, the human species has shown a remarkable curiosity towards the physical- the world; the sky; the stars; the universe- and the metaphysical- the human consciousness; soul; spirit. For the purpose of this OP, I am going to define variables for these concepts: [i]N[/i] is the totality of perceived existence, whether percieved as an objective universe created and sustained by one or more gods or as an unplanned, undirected objective universe existing through accident. [i]h[/i] is the distinct, isolated self-consciousness, the perceiver, represented as the soul, ego, or the non-metaphysical, material phenomenon of the mind.

Now, all belief systems in the world can be defined as to whether it assumes that the [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] juxtaposotion is wrong and should thus be corrected by unification or merger or that it is right and should be maintained, accented or strengthened. All mainstream religion can be categorized in the former.

Indeed, the relations would form a sort of chart: Religion, one of the two branches of the "[i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] juxtaposition is right" section, also separates into two halves: the left one would reject [i]h[/i] and attempt to destroy the sensation of "being"- Taoism and Buddhism- and the right would accept [i]h[/i] and attempt to obey or please the god or gods- nature worship, paganism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Notice that both approaches involve attempts to actively unify [i]h[/i] with [i]N[/i] or to obey and please [i]N[/i]. These attempts constitute religious rituals (conventional rites; Wicca; Cabala; Rosicrucianism; Illuminism; Theosophy; Golden Dawn; tantric sex magic; et cetera) and create the momentary illusion of a merger [i]h[/i] merger with [i]N[/i]. These religious rituals- and thus the entire Religion branch- are also known as "White Magic".

However, that covers just one branch of the section believing that [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] juxtaposion is wrong. What is the belief of the other branch, then?

The other branch denies the existence of [i]h[/i] except as a function of [i]N[/i]. That's right; where the right half was Religion, this one is Science. The spiritual beliefs of science consist primarily of such skeptical philosophies as Materialism, Behavioralism, Agnosticism, and, of course, Atheism.

So, now we have filled in the right and left halves of the right branch of the right section of the [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] juxtaposion, as well as the left branch of the same section. This looks rather promising. But now we must tackle the far left section of our universe-soul connection: where the [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] juxtaposion should be maintained, accented or strengthened. And if the far right enclosed White Magic, you can surely hazard a guess as to what this section would be named.

Black Magic. Spooky, eh? This branch supposedly fufills its [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i] position through
a) the destruction of wrong assumptions,
b) the formulation of correct understandings, and
c) an "enlightening" initiatory process whose goal is to conceptualize an ideal relationship between [i]h[/i] and [i]N[/i].

This Black Magic has a surprisingly scarce amount of belief systems under its umbrella: the Priesthood of Set in ancient Egypt; the Medieval/Renaissance Satanism of Voltaire, Neitzsche, and the Hellfire Club; the Church of Satan in 1966. The Church of Satan was basically Black Magic with an underpinning of scientific Materialism. This Church was unique because it recognized a regulatory intelligence between [i]N[/i] and [i]h[/i], which I will call [i]R[/i], a concept inherited from a [i]N[/i]/[i]h[/i]-wrong cult. This Church was succeeded by the Temple of Set in 1975, which now claims to be the leading left-hand path in the world.

Now, what is the difference between the 'magics' performed by the right-hand path (far right) and the left-hand path (far left) that gives them their color? Religious rituals are religious rituals, right? Yes and no. The right-hand path performs its magic while accepting social convention and following strict ethic codes, which makes the magic "white". The left-hand path, however, delights in being nonconformist, rejecting the status quo, and breaking taboos, all while adhering to personal anarchy and following no moral codes. So the magic in black and white magic is supposedly the same, but the way in which their practitioners go about doing it are completely different.

Now we have explored the far right, or white magic and religion; the middle right, science; and the far left, black magic. But what's middle left?

This is the most noble and prestigious of the branches. Its adherents have included Pythagoras, Descartes, Plato, Socrates, Bacon and Aristotle. This is the branch of the Rationalist, passed down throughout the ages by such movements as the Pythagoreans, Individualists, Existentialists and Neo-Platonians. The most ancient sects of Rationalists in Egypt had two primary elements,
- the destruction of incorrect assumptions through the Socratic method and
- the formulation of correct understandings through logic.

Unfortunately, the art of Rationality and its goals was lost for centuries, a period known as the Medieval Ages. Years upon years of progress was lost. However, in the 14th through 17th centuries, a humanist revival called the Renaissance resurrected Rationality and several other lost arts. Major Rationalist contributions to this age included the realization of the importance of empirical evidence and the development of the scientific method, advancements which greatly improved and furthered other sciences.

However, the greatest Rationalist advancement was not achieved until after the end of the Renaissance. Reverend Thomas Bayes was born in 1701 or 1702 to Joshua Bayes and Ann Carpenter. Joshua Bayes was a Presbytarian minister and thus a Nonconformist in the eyes of the Anglican Church, so he apparently chose to keep the birth register secret, as to avoid religious persecution. The Presbytarian religion so central to the Bayes family was passed on to Thomas, who became an assistant in his father's Nonconformist chapel before moving to Kent in 1734 and becoming minister of the Mount Sion chapel there.

In 1742, Bayes was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the most prestigious scientific body of its day, despite Bayes having published no scientific or mathematical works at that time. His sole publication known during his lifetime was a mystical book entitled 'Divine Benevolence', which lay forth the original causation and ultimate purpose of the universe. Bayes' nomination certificate was signed by sponsors including the President and the Secretary of the Society, making his election almost certain. It remains a mystery why such weighty names sponsored an unknown into the Royal Society.

In his later years, Bayes started studying with probability, ultimately developing the equation known as Bayes' Theorem. Unfortunately, he never condensed his findings into a paper, and the work remained unpolished at Bayes' death in 1761. Thankfully, however, the manuscript was given to his friend Robert Price, who edited them into an essay entitled 'An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances', which was read before the Royal Society in 1964.

Bayes' Theorem was rejected by the mainstream of mathematicians, who considered it unscientific in keeping with their frequentist views, which they held until the mid-20th century. However, Pierre-Simon, marquis of Laplace, accepted and further developed Bayes' findings in his 1812 paper 'Théorie analytique des probabilités', which also readfirmed Bayes' place in the scientific community. Laplace was said to have used Bayesian inference to design an Artificial Intelligence capable of predicting all future events, the so-called "Laplacian superintelligence" or "Laplace's demon". While it is believed that Laplace never tried to implement his design, it must be noted that Laplace presciently fled the guillotine that claimed many of his colleagues during the Reign of Terror.

The goal of the Bayesian Conspiracy is to encourage the widespread integration of Bayes' theorem, the pinnacle of modern rationality, into everyday life and culture as a whole. If rationality was accepted by people worldwide, Earth would be much better place to live in, both socially and environmentally. Now that you know our history and our goals, we encourage you to develop your understanding of rationality and Bayes' Theorem by reading the following articles:

[url=http://yudkowsky.net/rational/bayes]An Intuitive Understanding of Bayes' Theorem[/url]
[url=http://lesswrong.com/lw/dhg/an_intuitive_explanation_of_solomonoff_induction/]An Intuitive Explanation of Solomonoff Induction[/url]
[url=http://yudkowsky.net/rational/technical]A Technical Explanation of Technical Explanation[/url]
[url=http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Map_and_Territory_(sequence)]Map and Territory[/url]
[url=http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Mysterious_Answers_to_Mysterious_Questions]Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions[/url]
[url=http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Reductionism_(sequence)]Reductionism[/url]
[url=http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Sequences]Any of the other sequences here[/url]

Thank you.

Seraph