CULT OF PROMETHEUS
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
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Prometheus Unbound by Percy Blysshe Shelley
SUMMARY
I wanted my own religion so I created one. One might even say I had a calling from a Higher Power.
The Cult of Prometheus is dedicated to idolizing the titan Prometheus who defied the gods to improve the lives of people. We celebrate human flourishing, technological advancement, moral progress, constructive skepticism, and the spirit of innovative rebellion.
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I chose to adopt Prometheus as the figurehead because he represents the archetypically ideal religious figure. Religious followers insist that everyone is religious whether they admit to it or not, so I opted to create a religion that is morally superior to theirs.
As humanity's savior, Prometheus provides a superior example of morality when compared to all other mythological figures.
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Where both Prometheus and Jesus sacrificed themselves under the guise of benefiting humanity, it was only Prometheus' sacrifice that gifted humanity with tangible tools to progress technologically and, by consequence, to measurably reduce suffering.
Prometheus risked danger to himself because he defied arbitrary authority. Conversely, Jesus only ever acted in accordance with God's exercise of arbitrary authority and, as such, He neither endured any heroic risk nor did He resist God's arbitrary authority.
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Prometheus provided humanity with the ultimate lesson: we are to use the technological tools at our disposal to help others, and, if necessary, defy arbitrary authority in the process. We can only tackle the problems of existential and material suffering through a combination of technological advancement and moral progress. Anything short of this measure is either a temporary solution or a mere religious platitude.
FULFILLING THE PROMETHEAN IDEAL
Our Path Forward
THE PAST
Promethean Texts
Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus
On the Nature of Things by Lucretius
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Prometheus Unbound by Percy Blysshe Shelley
The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
The Rebel by Albert Camus
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Transhumanist Values by Nick Bostrum
The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil
To Be a Machine by Mark O'Connell
THE PRESENT
Technological and Moral Progress
Survive
Indulge in moderation
Play Video Games
Celebrate examples of defiance
THE FUTURE
Technological Transcendence
Play even better video games
Enjoy the future
MORAL FOUNDATIONS
First, we need to dispense with our current belief system before proceeding to the Cult of Prometheus.
A belief system can be safely dismissed if it meets both of the following elements:
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a. The belief system requires coercion to fulfill its goals
b. The belief system fails to demonstrate that it will enhance my well-being.
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Since all other religious beliefs, so far, failed to demonstrated any enhancement to my well-being, I can safely dismiss them. Even if some of the religious experiences are true experiences, this would still not require belief in the truth of those religions to participate in beneficial religious experiences. Consequently, I safely dismiss them.
Now we can advance to improving on existing belief systems that do not require religious adherence. I am not so arrogant as to pretend I invented my own belief system. Instead, I have liberally stolen from a wide range of sources. I do not cite my sources but, also, I do not take credit for the following.
The Cult of Prometheus is premised upon radically simplifying arbitrary or redundant philosophical beliefs. I have chosen to adopt a utilitarian version of Occam's Razor in order to surgically remove all redundant belief systems from the Cult's epistemological foundations. However, I acknowledge that the universe contains too many variables for a utilitarian model to account for. This is the reason that the Cult of Prometheus supports a rules-utilitarian based approach instead. A rules-utilitarian approach provides the flexibility and simplicity to adjust our rules based on a combination of sensory preferences and empirical data.
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In order to simplify our moral outlook, we need to remove all moral axioms and start from scratch. There is only one truth that does not require a moral axiom, and that is the existence of sensory experience, itself. Relying on sensory experience, I have mapped a moral foundation as follows:
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I do not like to suffer.
Every action I take is fundamentally motivated by a desire to reduce my perceived risk of suffering.
I optimally reduce my long-term risk of suffering when I engage in non-coercive, consensual, and mutually beneficial relationships whenever possible.
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Point 3 leads us full circle to the Cult of Prometheus' five foundational values:
1. Human Flourishing
2. Technological Advancement
3. Moral Progress
4. Constructive Skepticism
5. Innovative Rebellion