[andyfox]

First, thanks for the compliment. It always gets me a bit scared when I see my name in a thread title. Given the one just started on Other Topics with your name in the title, you can see why. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

From David's thread, three sentences stand out to me (one by David, one by a respondent): "Religion is a way to convince people to behave virtuously when virtue is a long-term benefit while at the same time treachery is a short-term benefit. Some smart guy realized all this a few thousand years ago and took a vacation up a mountain. That's the real story."

The problem is that organized religion causes people to behave virtuously only towards fellow congregants. History has taught us what happens to anyone who dares to worship a bit differently, or even worse, who dares to be an infidel; it ain't pretty.

So, for me, the answers to your first two questions are no because they encourage true believers to not accept those who they view as untrue. [For those too young to know, Madelyn Murray O'Hare was a famous atheist.]

As for me, I don't think my behavior has anything to do with the longterm. I think it probably has to do with the examples my parents set for me (without talking about it) about the importance of the Golden Rule and (and here we get into some psychology) wanting to make sure people like me. David has alluded to this when he said I'm probably too nice to play poker optimally.

I had never heard of The Prisoner's Dilemma until David posted about it, so I'm just now starting to think about it.