Smallhouse Log

Tuesday

Watching Bell, Book, & Candle, I'm amused by dated jokes -at least, the ones I catch. Multiple references to the Kinzie Report, and at least one so far to "unAmerican activities".

I like to use the term 'mythology' to refer, not to things that are false, but to connected systems of explanations for phenomena observed in the world. Id est, Greek mythology has stronger, better organized intelligences pulling the strings -literally pulling the sun across the sky. Christian mythology has the world created by an all-powerful being for an unstated purpose, that we are supposed to trust because He loves us. (I know that sounds cynical, but mind you, that's my own belief system.) Scientific mythology tells us that light is both a particle and a waveform, and that quantum events exist in a superposition until collapsed by being observed.

But Science has qualities rare in other mythologies. For one, it is based not on what we want to believe, or what we have been told to believe, but purely on collected observations. It has less dogma, and actively encourages throwing away older parts of the mythology if contradictory evidence is found. But most of all, it lacks a moral overlay.

Most mythologies have associated with them a moral system, after all. They seek not only to explain how the world works, but how we should interact with it. And most moral reasoning tends to be unfortunately circular - eg. we know what is bad because the gods show us by example, we know that this god is good because She does only good things, and not bad things (and we know this god is bad because...). Much of the rest is based on arbitrary decisions or assumptions about what is 'right' and 'wrong' -which is only a problem if you think arbitrarity is wrong (more circular reasoning there, I know).

Well, I was thinking this out yesterday while walking around, because I'm writing a religion generator. Not for real life -that verges well into what I would consider immoral, don'tcha know- but for videogames. Specifically for Teacup & Co, more generally for SNARLS, but in theory accessible to anyone who wants to use it. So what makes a religion? Mythology plus morality. BAM.

Nothing says thinking like overthinking.

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