Furthermore, they have only proved their survival and usefulness for a few
> thousand years. This is but the blink of an eye. I think we must begin to
> craft ethical systems that will work for us for millions of years. To begin
> to do that, I think it is important for us to begin to understand how we got
> through those first few thousand. So no, I don't advocate disdain for
> religion.
Although a thousand years is certainly a blink of an eye when compared to
biological evolution. Memes evolve and are transmitted much faster than genes.
(maybe 1 day vs. 20 years = 7300x as fast). This puts religion at a genetic age
of over 10 million years (rough rough guess). Which is more significant.
-Paul Prestopnik