One can have an optimistic state of mind – a kind of faith in the future – without believing in something without proof. But how is it possible to reinforce the belief in something you don’t know while keeping an open mind? How can you accept something without evidence – making other truths inaccessible to verification by turning a blind eye without being unscientific?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl25ZFNXQYY&feature=related
Some consider religious theories as an example of memes with a high level of fitness. It’s true that religious doctrines are long-lived memes, but diseases like AIDS or cancer can spread prolificly.
http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=224049
If only religion were simply a benign way to subjectively lessen cognitive dissonance – but the ideological barriers hurt us all in terms of lifelong individual happiness.
http://www.abolitionist-society.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1109
