

Ask HN:  Computer science has a hidden agenda to kill religion? - amichail

The invention of the internet and related technologies has had a devastating impact on religion.<p>One must wonder whether computer scientists at some point realized that this would be the outcome and actively worked to bring it about faster via their research.<p>Do you think this is the case?
======
pierrefar
_The invention of the internet and related technologies has had a devastating
impact on religion._

Really? The internet is a communication tool and as much as it enables
atheists to communicate and be vocal, it is enabling religious people to do
the same.

~~~
amichail
It's pretty clear that one side is winning convincingly though.

~~~
DanielStraight
This viewpoint is necessarily skewed by the communities one joins. If you
spend time in atheism-focused or atheist-populated communities, it's only
natural you would think atheism is the dominant viewpoint on the web. The
converse is also true.

In any event, your proposition (that the internet was invented to kill
religion) brazenly violates Occam's razor and, without a smoking gun, is very
difficult to believe.

~~~
pierrefar
Yes and yes!

I have some very religious family members and friends and sometimes when I
talk with them, you would think the internet = Jesus and nothing else (perhaps
Facebook too). When I talk with other friends and the communities I frequent,
it's atheism or you're a psycho.

------
iamdave
I'm having a very hard time swallowing the pill that computer scientists, of
all the things the technology can accomplish, would spend their time actively
making it better just to piss of deists.

------
anigbrowl
Your question erroneously assumes a unity of purpose among computer
scientists. Some may oppose religion and work to undermine it; others may not,
or may not consider the effect as devastating as you suggest it is.

The internet seems to me to weaken religious institutions, but also to
increase religiosity.

------
iwwr
Circa 1500, the debate in educated circles was whether the printing press had
a hidden agenda to harm Catholicism. It did and it was glorious.

~~~
getonit
The most printed book in history is the bible... mind you, it's also the best
weapon against religion, if you can just get people to read it.

------
getonit
You say that 'one _must_ wonder'... why? Why does this one particular field of
knowledge need a hidden agenda to behave exactly as all other fields of
knowledge, ie, incremental progress?

------
J3L2404
Information is dangerous to institutions that rely on inflexible dogmas. Adapt
or perish.

