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Comment Threads

• elsmiley commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  Religion is the product of the fear of death. Period....
• Takuan commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  what need of gods hath immortals?...
• SamSam commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  Elsmiley: Did you watch the lecture? There are many religions that have no belief whatsoever in any kind of afterlife. So what would a fear of death have to do with that? My personal belief is that religion has more to do with our brain's evolved ability to see agency, even where none exists, from the rustling of the bushes that could be caused by a predator, to the strike of lightning, that could be caused by an angry deity. We humans anthropomorphise everything: the tree is trying to reach the sun, the dung beetle is envious of th beetle...
• vettekaas commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  I don't want to draw attention away from his argument, but could anybody identify his accent for me? There's a guy at my school who talks exactly like him and I thought he was just trying to sound intellectual by pronouncing things snobbily.. but now that I've heard the same accent again I'm beginning to wonder if it's regional?...
• Padraig commented on Jared Diamond lecture on the evolution of religion
  Hi Anonymous, Thanks for the link to stinkyjournalism. I'm a big fan of Jared Diamond's work and so am very disappointed by what appears to be a clear case of poor work. Everyone makes mistakes (though this is rather major). However, the mistakes you have cited do not discount the thesis he has presented in some of his books (eg. Guns, Germs and Steel) as there has been no (to my knowledge) clear refutation of the arguments he has presented in those instances. Further, much of what he states in those books is rather well known by others, but not...