Comment by Richard Healy on December 31, 2009 at 6:36pm

I concurr, but to hell with it. Happy new year,

Comment by Objection on December 31, 2009 at 7:32pm

Jerry Coyne suggested that a secularization may result from having a higher standard of living. America's lack of universal healthcare may contribute greatly to this pathetic state we are in.
So, simply pushing for increased standards of living will diminish the lure of theistic religions, and thus its dangers.

Me, I think the final nail on the coffin for theistic religions would result from a mass wave of 'self-actualization'. This can be achieved through higher education (forced, not home-schooled ~ otherwise you can teach creationism and all that crap), and eventually (stick with me) brain-chips, which give people direct access to the internet. It's not mind-control, it's the availability of information that lead people to forgo, in their minds, the legitimacy of supernatural explanations. Such technology will take time. Search transhumanism to learn more ways that humanity can transcend beyond infighting and ignorance.
Read 'Radical Evolution' by Joel Garreau.
Output: They've already made a telekinetic monkey that could control a mechanical arm from one university to another, across the United States.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-cpcoIJbOU
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0803_050803_radevol...
Input: Look up bionic eyes. More than eight blind people have giant 'glasses' that allow them to sense light.
Hopefully, neuroscience will develop with great momentum. I am aiming to study in this field.

Comment by Objection on December 31, 2009 at 7:43pm

http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2009/11/blind-man-fitted-bionic-eye/
...these promises, like long life-spans (heck, even immortality), regenerated fingers & more, alternative energy, etc. can only be achieved through science, not prayer.
Unfortunately, some people do want to live in the Dark Ages again.

Comment by Jim DePaulo on December 31, 2009 at 8:26pm

Objection : At the rate technology is progressing I expect to see some remarkable developments in the next decade. Nanotech, gene engineering, battery technology, robotics, material sciences, and a plethora of electronic devices are just a few areas that development will explode.
I have a cell phone that is a phone, camera, video, GPS, dictionary, calculator, translator, web browser, email plus a couple hundred other things that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.
We are edging ever closer to the singularity that many predict.
All of it is exciting and not just a little scary. The future is getting here faster than we can keep track of.

Comment by Objection on January 5, 2010 at 2:56am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXRHPKIvLc&feature=fvw
The First Bionic Eye

For more discussion goto transhumanist group.

Comment by _7654_ on January 9, 2010 at 2:34pm

Well it sure feels good to be optimistic, and i am responding to http://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/Objection 's remarks here. But simple optimism, specially from a minority like us Atheists has little value bar the positive psychological effects of having it ourselves. If the politicians and the corporations are influenced by religious dogmatic beliefs, there will be no progress, just like there has been very little progress, all done fighting religious influence in government and private sector. A certain amount of effort needs to excreted by us Atheists to obtain a quantity of influence in the public and private sectors that exceeds marginal a little bit .... i think.

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