[MD] Dawkins a Materialist (is watching?)

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Arlo previously]
Yes, it is "lucky" we are.

[Platt]
The secular humanist philosophy in a nutshell. Thanks.

[Arlo]
When have I denied that stance? But I know you'd rather have the warm and fuzzy
feeling of "special" over "lucky". The theistic stance in a nutshell. Thanks.

Maybe Case will appreciate this bit of AI dialogue from Deus Ex.

"The unplanned organism is a question asked by Nature and answered by death. You
are another kind of question with another kind of answer. ... Human beings feel
pleasure when they are watched. ... The need to be observed and understood was
once satisfied by God. ... God and the gods were apparitions of observation,
judgment, and punishment. Other sentiments toward them were secondary. ... The
human organism always worships. First it was the gods, then it was fame (the
observation and judgment of others), next it will be the self-aware systems you
have built to realize truly omnipresent observation and judgment. ... The
individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is
impossible, and so is civilization. The human being created civilization not
because of a willingness but because of a need to be assimilated into higher
orders of structure and meaning. God was a dream of good government."