bogus comments on Undiscriminating Skepticism - Less Wrong

97 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 March 2010 11:23PM

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Comment author: bogus 21 March 2010 12:04:24AM *  2 points [-]

If God really were love, praying would be a complete waste of time.

Why? The placebo effect and other mindhacks apply to any sort of ritual or 'magic'. If you accept this, then worshipping 'love' or 'warfare' or other god-forms is not a waste of time at all--the purpose and effect of prayer need not involve anything supernatural.

Comment author: RobinZ 21 March 2010 12:10:54AM 0 points [-]

That ... is a good point, actually. It doesn't affect my argument - the one I elaborated with my Thom Yorke example - but it does complicate the situation in ways which should be acknowledged.