Ask HN: How is religion affecting (if at all) the common hacker's life?
Happy Easter to all Christians around!
I have always wondered how/if religion affects the hacker's decisions, and life in general. Religions have all kinds of "requests", like going to church every sunday, kneeling at sunset or visiting Mecca once in your life. Hackers tend to dedicate their life for long periods 100% to just coding and developing their product, thus obviously not respecting them.
Also, how about decisions and beliefs in general? The world has become very connected, allowing us to learn almost everything about anything, making us more self-aware. Are your beliefs affecting the decisions you make?
Last but not least, have you ever considered creating a startup that targets religious people? Are you working right now on such a startup ?
11 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 39.7 ms ] threadI feel as though modern religion has become a paradox of useful teachings that are twisted into justifiable hypocrisy.
That is not to malign those who practice a religion while also treating their fellow man with respect and acceptance, but pointing out those who use religion as a dark alley in which they can hide their inadequacies, hate, etc.
I've long gotten the sense that hackers have a better-than-average grasp of rationality, which means fewer of them ascribe to any major religion (though being more vaguely "spiritual", meditating, etc. isn't ruled out). There's just such a huge amount of obvious nonsense wrapped up in major religions that if you have the habit of taking things apart to see how they work, you'll eventually apply that to this thing that your parents told you should be a central part of your life, and religion doesn't stand up well to analysis that doesn't assume its truth.
Hackers still usually have families, though -- sometimes families who are very dedicated to religion -- which means there are quite a lot who still go through the motions (at least when visiting home, for example) just so their Grandmother doesn't have a heart-attack because she thinks her grandchild is going to hell.
I personally just sort my way through the conflicts as patiently as possible (I have a family that's full of pretty serious Catholics), because I can't stomach faking it, and generally I'm not harassed about it, much.
For religious hackers -- I suspect their religion's requirements aren't too heavy. Generally we're more productive when we take breaks now and then, so feeling obligated to stop and think of something else for a bit is probably a good thing.
Whether they make a difference in decisions otherwise -- possibly, but probably not as you might think. I grew up in a wealthy area, and Christmas mass meant a parking lot full of expensive cars and pews full of fur coats. If they actually listened to the sermons, they'd hear they had the same chance to pass into heaven as a camel through a needle's eye, but that didn't affect how they used their money as far as I could see.
On the contrary, among people who are genuinely interested in making the world a better place, I suspect an atheist would be more likely to carefully analyze complicated situations before deciding what path might lead to better results, and test the outcomes... whereas anyone with strong religious beliefs would believe they already knew what was required. Think of how many AIDS cases could have been avoided if so many Christian missionaries weren't opposed to birth control....
I've long hoped that greater interconnectedness will lead to less belief in the supernatural globally, but that hasn't been the case so far -- I don't have the study link, but from what I've read people are more likely to seek out like-minded sites/people, to reinforce their beliefs, not sample widely to find out if other approaches might be more valid.
Create a startup targeted at religious people? Not seriously. I've toyed with the idea of creating sites to explain gently & non-aggressively what atheism is and why some people choose to be non-believers, or to offer support to people trapped in highly-religious communities and families who have lost their faith -- but idea #1 would likely be fairly useless (see previous paragraph), and some sites already exist for idea #2.
I also don't seek out believers to critique them; everyone goes through different paths in their life, and may or may not have reason to question any number of beliefs they've inherited or taken up along the way for whatever reason.
I'm fairly driven to dig down through almost everything, but I also have a friend who comfortably believes all kinds of crazy things with hardly a second thought, because "life is more interesting that way". Dunno what direction he'd go if stricken with a life-threatening illness (I really, really hope he wouldn't treat it with prayer circles, chelated mercury, toxin cleansers, homeopathy, etc..) but his approach hasn't caused any problems I can point to, so I have no argument.
Back to hackers -- the topic of religion doesn't generally come up except possibly in random smalltalk, and never in my career has it become a point of conflict (i.e., company-mandated prayer groups or bible study or something like that). So if there's a quiet religious minority, and an equally-quiet non-religious majority, that seems like it would suit everyone just fine.
Not to go two far into the realm of religion but since it was brought up I though I would address it, when Jesus spoke of the poor and the rich he was speaking about the poor of spirit and the rich of spirit. The poor of spirit and the rich of spirit where contrasted by the meek and the Pharisees, he was saying that someone so rich in themselves will be like a Camel through the eye of the needle. Now many times the two paralleled each other financially, the financially rich where generally of a class that had more access to Judaism and rank inside the religion. So the writing can seem to be referring to the two as purely a financial matter, but their are a few key sermons, in particular the sermon on the mount in which Jesus specifically addressed the poor as being the poor of spirit. Otherwise those that look to god for strengthen rather than those that seek power for themselves in this world.
For what it is worth, to this thread I am a spiritual person after growing up an agnostic, but I still accept that the naturalist view could be right, even if if it is, I like the teachings of Christ, if it where proven tomorrow that he was just some crazy dude he is still of immense value when time is taken to read his words. I actually had very little tolerance for religion given the hypocrisy it displayed. In an effort to be a better agnostic I started reading religious text starting with the Koran, the Torah and the books of Zohar, the words of Buddha, and finally the old and then new testament. In doing so John really struck me when he talked about how Jesus said that people would proclaim his name, by would not act in accordance to his example. He talks about a speck of dust on another eye while a log is in your own. Anyways, there is something about Jesus that I really like. After reading his words and actions I realized he was the type of person that I was trying to be all along. As well after reading his teachings I see nothing irrational about modeling ones life after a man who taught universal love, obedience, forgiveness and humility. I no longer see it as a religion full of hypocrites, but as a religion full of flawed people that where far worse off before they started to strive to be better through the model of Christ. In learning about their religion I was able to forgive them. I also no longer see all religious leaders as con men, but rather some are while others genuinely do care and are genuinely good people.
I agree with your statement though that is is futile to argue from one point or the other, people will formulate their own opinion and their is so much dogma on both side that people are so guarded to the possibility or lack their of that the more one speaks for or against, the more defensive the other party becomes.
So we'll see what else I say when it's not Pesach.
No need to be a capitalist slave, though. A life spent chasing gods or dollars isn't generally a life well-spent in either case; but of course there are more options.
No need to be a capitalist slave, though. A life spent chasing gods or dollars isn't generally a life well-spent in either case; but of course there are more options.
While I'm not religious, I mostly like religion as it's practiced here in Portugal and Spain - people seem to focus mostly on what I consider the good parts (community reunions, solidarity, processions) and less on the enforcement of Christians morals.