Belief systems are like organisms (Malthus, Smith, and Jesus)

Religious phylogeny by Colin Purrington. Photo credit >[1]

Belief systems are like organisms: They respond when threatened, suffer symptoms of sickness and decline, grow stronger and make philosophical babies, or dwindle into steles, papyri, and footnotes.

If we can trust the "wisdom of the masses" and if the conditions have been favorable to permit a collective, subconscious consensus, then the values that have persisted over time (or rediscovered or reinvented by our collective decisioning) have some merit over those that have not.

As I was feeling quite pleased with my insight, I realized it's just a new expression of old ideas. Malthus might have said as much had he lived today (>), or Adam Smith (>), but Jesus hit it on the head nearly 2,000 years ago (>). All great thinkers probably said something akin to it that their students saved for you and me.

Our better ideas seem to have a way of surviving, and so much the better, as our capacity to harm ourselves seems to also.

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Related, but only a little: Traffic in China reminds me of blood cells, sometimes squeezing through capillaris so small they must go single file.

Chinese drivers seem to sense each other's boundaries and pass like ghosts, but so near that you can't fit the width of your hand between them.

[2014-09-26]

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[1]

This image is all over, but not often credited. It's a sketch by Colin Purrington, who doesn't pretend it's accurate, just helpful: "If you are a religion buff, you are no doubt frothing at the mouth because of all the mistakes I’ve made … in my defense, it was just a quick sketch because I needed an “evolution of religions” slide for a talk…" Source >

No frothing here. I kind of like it. Not sure what all the symbols mean; I'm especially curious about the sun and cross symbols that continue up the middle to the top of the tree. No doubt there's a strong correlation between religious ideas, languages, and migrations.

[2014-09-22]

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