Looking back on tomorrow

November 12, 2007 in Future

Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, looks back from 2500. A sample:

One outcome of this- — the greatest psychological survey in the whole of history- — was to demonstrate conclusively that the chief danger to civilization was not merely religious extremism but religions themselves. This was summed up in a famous saying: “All Religions were invented by the Devil to conceal God from Mankind.”

Billions of words of pious garbage spoken by statesmen, clerics and politicians down the ages were either hypocritical nonsense or, if sincere, the babbling of lunatics. The new insights enabled by the Psi-probe helped humans finally recognize organized religions as the most malevolent mind virus that had ever infected human minds.

By the way, Sir Arthur turns 90 on 16 December.

7 comments

Comments feed for this article

Trackback link

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2007/11/12/looking-back-on-tomorrow/trackback/

November 12, 2007 at 12:20 pm

James Robertson

I’d point out that the problem is less religion than it is fanaticism. Secular fanatics – fascists and communists, for instance – have killed far more efficiently than the religious fanatics have, for instance.

November 12, 2007 at 2:52 pm

Doc Searls

I agree. I just lifted the most coherent section of his piece.

November 12, 2007 at 4:59 pm

Mike Warot

Governments are really the ones to watch out for… they run the war racket.

November 13, 2007 at 5:32 am

Doc Searls

Ah Mike, but when religions run the governments…

Of course, that wouldn’t happen here, would it?