Most "SCARY" invention of mankind. What is it?

[England my lionheart]

I would say religion and the reason being it is imposed on children,circumcision and even baptism are an abuse of their human rights IMO.

 

[firedragon]

Weapons keeping your family safe implies the existence of other weapons, though. "I need weapons to defend against other weapons" is a bit recursive.

Maybe you didn't understand the point. But I understand your point. So we can leave it at that. Cheers.

 

[firedragon]

I would say religion and the reason being it is imposed on children,circumcision and even baptism are an abuse of their human rights IMO.

Why?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Facebook.

Make an account and find out...

Social media in general. Lots of anger, fear, hatred, spite, wrath, people easily offended, easily angered, tons of misinformation and it's killed a lot of people, still killing, amd it was a tool that helped make the Jan 6th riots possible.
If I sound like an old lady oh well. We really were better off before we were so heavily plugged in.

 

[firedragon]

Social media in general. Lots of anger, fear, hatred, spite, wrath, people easily offended, easily angered, tons of misinformation and it's killed a lot of people, still killing, amd it was a tool that helped make the Jan 6th riots possible.
If I sound like an old lady oh well. We really were better off before we were so heavily plugged in.

I understand. Thanks SW.

 

[Augustus]

I’d imagine agriculture had more to do with that than ideology, surely?

You need ideology to bind and govern any community that isn't dependent on raw power alone or reciprocal, personal relationships (and I'd argue that even these are grounded in ideologies).

Neither of these can scale to sufficient sizes to even create agricultural economies.

This is what the people who call religions 'divisive' miss, they have been the most successful tools for uniting people in human history.

Default is not some kind of harmony until we are divided by sinister forces, the default is fragmented small groups unless you can find an artificial means of uniting them into larger units that can remain cohesive while encouraging sufficient numbers of people to act in the common good

 

[Augustus]

What do you think is the scariest thing mankind ever invented?

The concept of Progress.

From religious persecutions, radical millenarianism Communism, Nazism, the Reign of Terror, eugenics, imperialism, etc. were all driven by the idea we could bend human society to our will to create a better future.

The hubris of humans to think they can control human destiny if only their will is strong enough.

 

[England my lionheart]

Why?

They have no choice and they are sent to religious schools (me included) and taught faith as fact,I feel this to be dishonest and a breach of their right to choose.

For the proselytising religions this includes threats of eternal torture which is pretty scary for anyone let alone a child.

 

[Mock Turtle]

The concept of Progress.

From religious persecutions, radical millenarianism Communism, Nazism, the Reign of Terror, eugenics, imperialism, etc. were all driven by the idea we could bend human society to our will to create a better future.

The hubris of humans to think they can control human destiny if only their will is strong enough.

You're sounding like a typical end times believer, or any of those with similar views. So why wouldn't we have a belief that we could improve, even progress, as a species, especially when we have done so - given where we actually came from.

 

[Augustus]

So why wouldn't we have a belief that we could improve, even progress, as a species, especially when we have done so - given where we actually came from.

Because we cannot bend complex human societies to our will (USSR, Cambodia, Afghanistan, etc) and thinking we can has lead to more deaths, misery and suffering than probably anything else in history, certainly more than religions (although the concept of Progress is mostly an offshoot of religion).

Humans have a lot less control than they think they do, and the sooner we collectively realise this the better. We won't though as we are prone to hubris and don't make progress other than in technology and knowledge.

Unfortunately the optimistic teleological progressive view replaced the classical tragic view where human nature meant history could only be cyclical.

 

[firedragon]

For the proselytising religions this includes threats of eternal torture which is pretty scary for anyone let alone a child.

So the questing would be, why would that be the most scary invention of humankind.

 

[ChristineM]

For me it is religions, and although we could cite so many other things that cause division and conflict, and which have resulted in so many deaths, religions are the main beliefs most difficult to alter or eradicate (in my view), mostly because they are based on material from the past that is essentially taken 'as is' (and not provable), even though we have so many different interpretations of such. For all the good they have done, we just don't know if our history would have been better and perhaps less troubled if they hadn't existed - or at least in the forms they took. But perhaps we were just destined for what we got no matter as to whatever such beliefs formed.

I suppose that ideologies, as to religions being a subset of these in my view, could be labelled as being the most dangerous thing though.

^^^ THIS. ^^^

 

[blü 2]

Some atheists claim that religion is the one. Some theists claim non-religion is the one. Some people think the nuclear bomb is the one. Others think the nuclear bomb is necessary, thus it is a response to other things that are scary. Some people think that missiles are the scariest invention of mankind, while others call some missiles "peace keepers". Some people thought in history, the "lightning bringing stick" referring to the gun as the one. Some others may think a rebellion is the one.

What do you think is the scariest thing mankind ever invented? Why do you think that is?

Right now the things that scare me most are inaction on climate change ─ I speak as a grandparent ─ and populism around the world that puts dangerous fools and self-seekers in positions of power.

 

[England my lionheart]

So the questing would be, why would that be the most scary invention of humankind.

Because people knowingly do it to their children and their respective religions sanction it,just this is scary on its own.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Commercials.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Because we cannot bend complex human societies to our will (USSR, Cambodia, Afghanistan, etc) and thinking we can has lead to more deaths, misery and suffering than probably anything else in history, certainly more than religions (although the concept of Progress is mostly an offshoot of religion).

Humans have a lot less control than they think they do, and the sooner we collectively realise this the better. We won't though as we are prone to hubris and don't make progress other than in technology and knowledge.

Unfortunately the optimistic teleological progressive view replaced the classical tragic view where human nature meant history could only be cyclical.

I still think you are being selective as to what is considered progress. Many of us have thrown off the shackles of religions, have advanced enough to not discriminate against others, and generally don't wave the flag for our particular country (or religion) or opt for war other than in defence. We do tend to just see ourselves as part of the human race. We do at least have the option of advancing as a species, given the constraints of our human form and the reality of our existence, and surely this is better than any alternative.

I think the main issue is, and just being part of reality, that we have so many peoples advancing or lagging as to progress simply because of where they exist, and the histories of these regions. The internet and such is changing this though.

Our tragedy lies in being born and hence dying. But we might even escape that in some far distant future. Magic from religions (afterlife and such) does not it seems provide a satisfactory answer for so many but the future might - not that I would say this would be either good or bad, but just a possibility.

 

[Revoltingest]

What do you think is the scariest thing mankind ever invented? Why do you think that is?

Because of devastating & lasting effects...

And in 2nd place (pretty close)....

 

[Brickjectivity]

The concept of Progress.

From religious persecutions, radical millenarianism Communism, Nazism, the Reign of Terror, eugenics, imperialism, etc. were all driven by the idea we could bend human society to our will to create a better future.

The hubris of humans to think they can control human destiny if only their will is strong enough.

Well said, although now that I think about it I don't object to the concept of gradual progress and the hope of improvement. I think that does not contradict your point. Surely there is room for improvement.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Because we cannot bend complex human societies to our will (USSR, Cambodia, Afghanistan, etc) and thinking we can has lead to more deaths, misery and suffering than probably anything else in history, certainly more than religions (although the concept of Progress is mostly an offshoot of religion).

Humans have a lot less control than they think they do, and the sooner we collectively realise this the better. We won't though as we are prone to hubris and don't make progress other than in technology and knowledge.

Unfortunately the optimistic teleological progressive view replaced the classical tragic view where human nature meant history could only be cyclical.

But societies have generally evolved to be less autocratic, and more democratic; though of course this process can go into reverse.

Still, liberties and opportunities many of us take for granted, would have been unthinkable for any but the most privileged elite, in any society, less than three centuries ago.

 

[PureX]

Money. The abstraction of value in a physical form. The single most powerful of all human inventions. And the single most enabling, and disabling invention, simultaneously.