From: <MemeLab@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 14:15:19 EDT
Subject: Re: selfishness, buddhism, and memetics
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
In a message dated 4/15/99 1:03:02 PM Central Daylight Time,
robin@faichney.demon.co.uk writes:
<< In message <800f5437.24476775@aol.com>, MemeLab@aol.com writes
>I never really imagined what Dennet's and Dawkins' religious
>beliefs are - I had always sort of assumed that they were more western
>secularists - and Dawkins I believe has stated that he is an atheist. I
>never would have guessed that they were privately Buddhists, but now that
you
>mention it - I imagine that wouldn't be necessarily incompatible with a lot
>of their other ideas.
It's not a central issue here, but just for the record, Buddhism is
quite widely considered an atheistic religion/philosophy.
--
Robin Faichney >>
Agreed. It's clearly a side issue. But never-the-less an *inevitable* side
issue. After we are done addessing the actual issues, it is certainly
something entertaining to speculate about as we twiddle our thumbs waiting
for the next shoe to fall if it ever does. I mean we all have to have
*something* to gossip about.
And yes, I know it is an "atheistic" philosophy/religion or whatever.
"Atheism" is just a convenient label to say what you AREN'T, not really what
you are. Once you leave the arena of western thought, just because it looks
like atheism, doesn't mean it is anything in particular. I am an "atheist"
too, an emergent materialistic, pancritical rationalist, western secularist,
social individualist, and have found myself to be very "spiritual" in some
ways (much to my own surprise and continued scepticism). See if you can
decifer all of that. If you can't, just call me an "atheist".
-Jake
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