I don't think the argument I was addressing can be summed up as "X has worked". It's more like "X has happened, therefore X is an inevitable consequence of Y which preceded it."
Also, tropes are often tropes for a reason. You can't dismiss something just because it comes up often.
> I don't think the argument I was addressing can be summed up as "X has worked". It's more like "X has happened, therefore X is an inevitable consequence of Y which preceded it."
You are splitting hairs now. The point I am making is that frequently on this site observations are discounted immediately as survorship bias. It almost as if it the only one people know.
It simply isn't survorship bias if something been going on for hundreds of years in a particular direction.
> Also, tropes are often tropes for a reason. You can't dismiss something just because it comes up often.
I am dismissing it because it doesn't make sense and it is frequently overused. Thus the hammer and nail analogy.
In any event it pointless continuing this discussion further. So lets just leave it.
> It simply isn't survorship bias if something been going on for hundreds of years in a particular direction.
I'm not saying secularization is survivorship bias, that seems like a category error (if I may be allowed another HN trope).
I'm saying the idea that secularization "can be traced back to the Bible" because it arose in a society inspired by the Bible betrays a view on history that seems akin to what's sometimes called survivorship bias. But I'm not very attached to the word, we can leave it out if you like! The point would stand, however: the Bible is an inspiration to many societies, very few of which have become secular, and the ones that did became secular only did so long after introduction of the Bible. Therefore it does not seem very obvious to posit a link between the two.
Also, tropes are often tropes for a reason. You can't dismiss something just because it comes up often.