Yeah, Stumbling on Happiness is a pretty good book.

Daniel Gilbert

I think it can be difficult to bracket derivative texts when thinking about biblical texts. E.g., most people's understanding of Genesis is heavily influenced by Milton, so it seems reasonable to think that their evaluation of Genesis is confounded by their evaluation of Paradise Lost. Some of the poetic value of Paradise Lost redounds back to Genesis.

I think that a lot of the value that people assign to the bible exists in derivative texts (or memes) that are located outside of the bible---I submit that this is the elusive sacred quantity that Adam Frank is talking about. A poetic analysis of the string of characters comprising the Book of Job will turn up little, if any, of this external value. So of course the Bible has a greater sacred quantity than Lord of the Rings...it's got a several-thousand-year head start in generating derivative works.

definitely "materialism"...especially the idea that there are no ontologically basic mental entities.

Two influential contemporary poets:

Christian Bök: "We are probably the first generation of poets who can reasonably expect to write literature for a machinic audience of artificially intellectual peers." (from "The Piecemeal Bard Is Deconstructed: Notes Toward a Potential Robopoetics" - http://www.ubu.com/papers/object/03_bok.pdf )

Kenneth Goldsmith: "[Barry] Bonds just points to the fact that being human has ceased to be enough: we demand the precision and complexity of machines, in athletes, in politicians, in business and in the arts. And what we demand, we now have." (from "In Barry Bonds I See The Future of Poetry" - http://poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/11/repost_in_barry_bonds_i_see_th.html)

Sample their stuff: http://www.ubu.com/sound/bok.html http://www.ubu.com/contemp/goldsmith/index.html