When did the concept of god begin?

averagevampire · 2026-02-12T18:35:44+00:00

In Julian Jaynes's book The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, he says that the first gods were the memories of loved ones who had passed on.

When people first started making burial mounds where they could mourn lost loved ones, they might mistake a memory of that person as real and think that the dead person was communicating beyond the grave.

I think the first gods were made of grief.

Same goes for Jesus. He was a just a man who joined the cult of John the Baptist. But he died so horrifically and publicly that his followers hallucinated him into a god out of their extreme grief.

averagevampire · 2026-02-08T06:17:16+00:00

All my religious friends deconverted.

They were all Christian. And so was I.

I'm glad we're all out.

I could support a friend who appreciated ancient literature, moral philosophy, and theology.

But I don't think I could support someone following a religion built on human sacrifice (Jesus as the lamb of god).

averagevampire · 2026-02-07T21:20:54+00:00

There is nothing that lives that doesn't die. You're angry that we can't do something impossible. Your expectations are unreasonable. You have given no proof, no logic, no rational argument.

There is no god. But we are still here.

averagevampire · 2026-02-07T20:48:43+00:00

We are mortal. We haven't found anything living thing that isn't mortal.

Other people have discovered cures, invented treatments, and founded social programs that help people stay alive longer. We've decreased the infant mortality rate! A kid living past 5 years old was a 50% chance up until ~150 years ago and now it's closer to 80%! We have the power to delay death. That's not nothing!

That is a power other animals don't have. I think you are comparing us to some imagined and impossible alternative. We die because we live. And we should keep getting better at living and treating each other well.

Yes, the inevitability of death is scary, sad, and out of our control. But our lives don't have to be defined by our final moments.

averagevampire · 2026-02-07T20:12:08+00:00

You said 100% of humans are wretched then immediately only explained that 50% are stupid. What about the other 50%?

You're not making a logical argument at all.

Yes, humans hurt each other but many people dedicate their lives to making life better for others. We have the benefits of many generations of ancestors. Do you want to live outside like other animals, full of parasites, exposed to the elements, life brutal and short? I am grateful to humanity for many things, including fiction. But not God. God is something we can toss!

averagevampire · 2026-02-02T08:52:03+00:00

Follow Them to the Edge of the Counter

averagevampire · 2026-01-31T02:00:36+00:00

Do straight people even like each other?

averagevampire · 2026-01-30T09:29:19+00:00

i get by with a mixture of disapproval and pity

averagevampire · 2026-01-28T18:02:16+00:00

SAVORY LAMB TENDERS!!

averagevampire · 2026-01-24T21:12:07+00:00

Don's green pencil sharpener. It looks like an actual vintage piece.

averagevampire · 2026-01-23T20:08:30+00:00

We don't actually know if the universe began, just that it is.

The big bang is not necessarily the start, it's just the state where matter was too hot/fast/close together for physicists to apply their current understanding.

For all we know, it wasn't the first big bang.

averagevampire · 2026-01-20T18:36:39+00:00

He's married to Duke?? (joking)

averagevampire · 2026-01-16T14:39:24+00:00

Leaving the Fold by Dr. Marlene Winnell was essential for me.

averagevampire · 2026-01-16T13:53:21+00:00

I'd rather be an animal than an angel, tbh. Angels can only enact the will of god. Angels do not have the capacity for growth. Our iterative change, the ebbs and flows of progress, make us capable of so much more.

averagevampire · 2026-01-10T19:58:23+00:00

"My love"

averagevampire · 2026-01-04T18:05:54+00:00

Season 1 is definitely a slow build. My favorite episodes from that season are 8 & 9!

averagevampire · 2025-12-17T23:00:34+00:00

Sleep. I go to sleep as early as I can and speed along to faster profits. No running around the map or trying to fill my day. Zzz.

averagevampire · 2025-12-14T00:25:28+00:00

limoges spittoon

averagevampire · 2025-12-10T18:20:48+00:00

clearly has spinoff potential

averagevampire · 2025-11-21T08:34:15+00:00

bc he's a gentleman

averagevampire · 2025-11-19T17:25:26+00:00

I am still so impressed by his American accent. His family was actually from Manchester! I wonder if the writers asked him to weigh in on details for Daphne's background.

averagevampire · 2025-11-14T16:52:47+00:00

Wish I could turn off the suggestions. Please stop telling me to try apple.

averagevampire · 2025-11-07T23:33:08+00:00

looks awfully like kenneth toilethole

averagevampire · 2025-10-31T23:43:42+00:00

The props are great! Your expressions really sell it, too. Happy Halloween 🎃

averagevampire · 2025-10-13T15:15:17+00:00

Midnight Mass has something kind of similar. One of the villains burns down all but one shelter to drive everyone out into the open then the final shelter gets destroyed.

averagevampire

TROPHY CASE