Realism that is limited to the end of one's nose is more dangerous than the most insane fantasticality, because it's blind.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Adolescent
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Realism that is limited to the end of one's nose is more dangerous than the most insane fantasticality, because it's blind.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Adolescent

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Nazi Germany was over 90% Christian, yet "Hitler was an atheist" - so atheism is to blame for the Holocaust? It's this holier-than-thou persistent defense of dogma that gives us these horrors.
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The “dominant gender narrative” in science holds that bias against women is pervasive and occurs in every domain, including tenure-track hir
Abstract
The “dominant gender narrative” in science holds that bias against women is pervasive and occurs in every domain, including tenure-track hiring, letters of recommendation, awards, grants, journal publications, authorship assignment, citations, salaries, promotions, and teaching evaluations. Many of these claims are repeatedly broadcast despite their nullification by larger, stronger studies and meta-analyses that do not find gender bias. Because these stronger studies are cited less often, there exists a false belief among many faculty that gender bias is omnipresent in the tenure-track academy. As an example of this false belief, 248 U.S. faculty were surveyed about their beliefs regarding gender bias. They overestimated the extent of such bias in every domain. We illustrate this misalignment of beliefs by focusing on just one of the many domains in which bias against women is alleged but has been nullified by stronger studies: tenure-track hiring. We show that the dominant narrative of pervasive bias in favor of hiring men is not supported by the evidence. The reality is the opposite of what is believed, with women preferred over comparable men: multiple sources of evidence demonstrate that in tenure-track hiring in the United States and many European countries, women have an advantage over equally-accomplished men. Yet, the claim of bias against hiring women faculty continues to be widely cited in the premier science media. Challenging the gender narrative should be part of normal scientific discourse; however, doing so often evokes a backlash—as documented in testimonials by researchers who have been attacked.
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See also, from 2015:
A new study by Cornell psychologists suggests that science and engineering faculty preferred women two-to-one over identically qualified mal
By:Â Ted Boscia
Published: Apr 13, 2015
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Published online April 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the paper, “National Hiring Experiments Reveal 2:1 Faculty Preference For Women on STEM Tenure Track,” by Wendy M. Williams, professor of human development, and Stephen J. Ceci, the Helen L. Carr Professor of Developmental Psychology, both in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology, argues that the academic job market has never been better for women Ph.D.s in math-intensive fields.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative
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How Religion Can Stagnate the Individual Search for Knowledge
Religion has historically been both a preserver of knowledge and a constraint upon inquiry. Philosophically, the stagnating effect of religion on individual knowledge-seeking does not arise from spirituality itself, but from how religious systems structure certainty, authority, and doubt.
At issue is not belief—but finality.
1. Revelation as an Endpoint Rather Than a Question
Many religions are grounded in revealed truth—knowledge presented as complete, divinely sanctioned, and unquestionable.
When truth is framed as:
already known
already spoken
already perfect
the search for knowledge risks becoming interpretation without investigation.
Inquiry shifts from:
“What is true?” to “How do I align with what is already true?”
This replaces exploration with compliance.
2. Authority Replacing Curiosity
Religious systems often assign epistemic authority to:
sacred texts
clergy
tradition
divine command
When authority becomes absolute, curiosity becomes disobedience.
The individual learns:
not how to question
but who is allowed to answer
This discourages independent reasoning and trains the mind toward epistemic submission.
3. Moralization of Doubt
In many traditions, doubt is framed not as a stage of learning but as:
weakness
temptation
sin
lack of faith
This moral framing creates internal censorship.
The individual does not merely fear being wrong—but being morally flawed for asking.
Once doubt becomes guilt, inquiry collapses.
4. Closed Metaphysical Systems
Religions often provide:
origins
purposes
cosmic explanations
ultimate destinies
While comforting, these systems can become explanatory monopolies.
When every question already has a metaphysical answer, new explanations appear unnecessary—or threatening.
Knowledge stagnates not because questions disappear, but because answers arrive too quickly.
5. Fear of Existential Consequences
Religious belief often ties knowledge to:
salvation
punishment
eternal consequence
This raises the stakes of inquiry beyond truth-seeking.
To question becomes to risk:
identity
community
meaning
eternity
When the cost of being wrong is infinite, epistemic risk-taking ends.
6. Identity Fusion with Belief
Religion often merges belief with identity.
To challenge belief is to challenge:
family
culture
selfhood
belonging
Knowledge-seeking requires psychological distance. When belief becomes who one is, inquiry becomes self-erasure.
The mind defends identity before it defends truth.
7. Sanctification of Tradition
Religions tend to preserve ancient frameworks.
While tradition offers continuity, it can also freeze paradigms.
When age is mistaken for truth, innovation becomes heresy, and revision becomes betrayal.
Knowledge stagnates because the past is treated as superior to the present.
8. The Comfort of Final Meaning
Perhaps the deepest reason religion can stagnate inquiry is that it offers existential closure.
To believe one already knows:
why suffering exists
why death occurs
why the universe is ordered
removes the discomfort that drives philosophy and science.
Inquiry thrives on unease. Certainty anesthetizes it.
9. Important Clarification: Religion Is Not Inherently Anti-Knowledge
Historically, religion has:
founded universities
preserved texts
inspired science
motivated moral inquiry
The stagnation occurs when religion becomes:
unquestionable
totalizing
fearful of revision
The problem is dogmatism, not spirituality.
Conclusion
Religion stagnates the individual search for knowledge when it:
treats answers as final
replaces inquiry with obedience
moralizes doubt
fuses belief with identity
makes uncertainty dangerous
Knowledge requires openness, fallibility, and risk.
When a worldview forbids those qualities, it may offer comfort—but at the cost of discovery.
The enduring philosophical tension is this:
Does one seek truth—even if it destabilizes meaning? Or preserve meaning—even if it limits truth?
The search for knowledge begins precisely where certainty ends.
There are some people on all social media platforms who define “cyberpunk” incredibly narrowly and get really angry at anybody who calls something cyberpunk if it doesn’t meet all their criteria.
Robocop? Not cyberpunk, it has megacorporations and human augmentation, but no cyberspace and no punk protagonists.
Akira? Not cyberpunk, it has megacorporations and punk protagonists, but no cyberspace and no technological human augmentation.
Blade Runner? Extra not cyberpunk. No cyborgs, no cyberspace, no punks. Just cops and androids.
The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination, Scanners Live in Vain, Westworld, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Megami Tensei, The Ring, The Anubis Gates, Homunculus, Morlock Night, Infernal Devices, The Difference Engine? Do you even have to ask?

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If you're a true believer; if you have some pre-packaged philosophy then you're going to miss a great deal because you're pre-programmed to ignore what doesn't fit into your model. And it doesn't matter what your model is.
Terrence McKenna
"Minds are like flowers, they only open when the time is right." ― Stephen Richards