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Single Idea 20671
[filed under theme 28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 1. Monotheism
]
Full Idea
Monotheism explains order but not evil, and dualist religion explains evil but not order. One logical solution is a single omnipotent God who created the universe, and is evil - but nobody in history has had much stomach for that belief.
Gist of Idea
In order to explain both order and evil, a single evil creator is best, but no one favours that
Source
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: brief history of humankind [2014], 12 'Battle')
Book Ref
Harari,Yuval Noah: 'Sapiens: a brief history of Humankind' [Vintage 2014], p.246
A Reaction
Eh? Is there not also good, which also needs explaining? And there is some chaos to be explained too. Hume offers the best explanations. An inexperienced god, a team of squabbling gods, a god with shifting moods…. Study the facts first.
The
29 ideas
from Yuval Noah Harari
20663
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If a group is bound by gossip, the natural size is 150 people
[Harari]
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20664
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Animism is belief that every part of nature is aware and feeling, and can communicate
[Harari]
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20671
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In order to explain both order and evil, a single evil creator is best, but no one favours that
[Harari]
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20670
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Dualist religions say the cosmos is a battleground, so can’t explain its order
[Harari]
|
20669
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Dualist religions see everything as a battleground of good and evil forces
[Harari]
|
20673
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Manichaeans and Gnostics: good made spirit, evil made flesh
[Harari]
|
20666
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Most polytheist recognise one supreme power or law, behind the various gods
[Harari]
|
20667
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Polytheism is open-minded, and rarely persecutes opponents
[Harari]
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20668
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Monotheism appeared in Egypt in 1350 BCE, when the god Aten was declared supreme
[Harari]
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20665
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Mythologies are usual contracts with the gods, exchanging devotion for control of nature
[Harari]
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20674
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The Nazi aim was to encourage progressive evolution, and avoid degeneration
[Harari]
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20675
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The more you know about history, the harder it becomes to explain
[Harari]
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20676
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History teaches us that the present was not inevitable, and shows us the possibilities
[Harari]
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20677
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Since 1500 human population has increased fourteenfold, and consumption far more
[Harari]
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20679
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We stabilise societies with dogmas, either of dubious science, or of non-scientific values
[Harari]
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20678
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The Scientific Revolution was the discovery of our own ignorance
[Harari]
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20684
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Financing is increasingly through credit rather than taxes; people prefer investing to taxation
[Harari]
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20685
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No market is free of political bias, and markets need protection of their freedoms
[Harari]
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20682
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The main rule of capitalism is that all other goods depend on economic growth
[Harari]
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20681
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The sacred command of capitalism is that profits must be used to increase production
[Harari]
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20683
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The progress of capitalism depends entirely on the new discoveries and gadgets of science
[Harari]
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20687
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In capitalism the rich invest, and the rest of us go shopping
[Harari]
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20686
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For millenia people didn't know how to convert one type of energy into another
[Harari]
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20690
|
The state fostered individualism, to break the power of family and community
[Harari]
|
20689
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In 1750 losing your family and community meant death
[Harari]
|
20691
|
Real peace is the implausibility of war (and not just its absence)
[Harari]
|
20688
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People 300m tons; domesticated animals 700m tons; larger wild animals 100m tons
[Harari]
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20693
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Freedom may work against us, as individuals can choose to leave, and make fewer commitments
[Harari]
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20692
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Money does produce happiness, but only up to a point
[Harari]
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