The Google Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that shows how often certain words are used per year.
This functionality makes it possible to consult sources from 1500 to the present. The Ngram viewer works in different languages such as English, Chinese, Hebrew, and Russian.
So, this search engine searches in text for words and registers the frequency of usage. The diagram behind me shows the result for the term materialism in uppercase, lowercase and mixed.
Interesting is that rise around 1880. Any idea what the cause may be? I think I know at least one explanation.
A second observation is that the line is steadily rising. One explanation could be the growth of science, our knowledge about ourselves, and the material world we live in.
Although the choice of the subject of the current project is very personal, my newspaper showed me that this subject is alive and that I am not alone.
On the opinion page, my newspaper published a remarkable article. The heading was: "Believing in God looks a lot like believing in a conspiracy".
In recent years, conspiracy theories have become wilder and more cohesive. Not "cohesive" in the sense of clearer, smarter, or convincing.
But cohesive as the ever-further linking of different conspiracy theories into one big conspiracy of aliens, pedophiles, governments, and rulers.
The author defines a conspiracy thus: "A conspiracy theory attempts to provide an explanation for reality based on the belief that there is more than ordinary people can perceive.
Behind the things that happen would be something greater, that affects and even controls our world.
Our world is a make-believe world, we ordinary people are just puppets in the hands of greater powers, such as reptiles or IT millionaires.
A conspiracy theory is an unprovable belief in a reality that rules man and the world." -end quote-
And here comes the fun: Most religions fit this definition, with unprovable claims that many believers believe to be true.
And those claims are sometimes even wilder than, say, the belief that Hillary Clinton runs a pedophile network in the basement of a pizza parlor.
A few examples: Christ is always and eternally an indivisible part of God, but at the same time he was born to a virgin about the year zero.
Elsewhere, there is a prophet who can travel from Mecca to Jerusalem – and back – in one night on a flying horse.
40 percent of Americans believe creation took place a few thousand years ago.
Forty percent of U.S. adults ascribe to a strictly creationist view of human origins, believing that God created them in their present form within roughly the past 10,000 years.
Religion rests on an unprovable belief in a supreme being who created us, who can influence our circumstances, but often for incomprehensible reasons does not, and who will judge us after we die.
We are sometimes startled by the dark paranoid conspiracy theories and then laugh at their supporters.
But we judge less harshly about mainstream religions, which also often lead to hatred, discrimination, and oppression.
But which belief actually contains the most improbable elements? Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam
or the conspiracy theories about UFOs, QAnon, and corona? And which religions are more dangerous and hurtful to women, gays or actually anyone else?
These are questions and observations of a materialist and they were published in my newspaper on November 1, 2022.
Thank you for your attention again.....
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
The Discussion
[13:16] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:17] Dien (djdien.bailey) is offline.
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): thinks
[13:17] herman Bergson: Of course this opinion didn't stay unopposed....Next lecture I'll tell you what counter arguments were published
[13:17] Al Michigan: but, what about love?
[13:18] herman Bergson: what about it, Al?
[13:18] oola Neruda: God is Love
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i love that definition of conspiracy theory
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): good one
[13:18] Al Michigan: Love is .....everywhere. If all humans die, there is stil love!
[13:19] Al Michigan: and ....
[13:19] herman Bergson: unprovable and thus irrelevant statement
[13:19] Al Michigan: it might be that there is no God, but what then IS the definition of god.
[13:19] herman Bergson: Also a weird statement......
[13:19] herman Bergson: a. there is no god
[13:20] herman Bergson: b. what is the definition of god
[13:20] herman Bergson: that is contradictory
[13:20] Al Michigan: Because if only those things exists, that we are a function off, if onlythose things excists thatarein our head, ... materialistically seen, it means God is just as real as any automibile
[13:20] oola Neruda: or maybe there is nothing there to worship... but that the act of love... repeated by millions.... is what it is really about
[13:21] Al Michigan: When i read the Quran, and the hindu books, and the christian bible, what stoke me was:
[13:21] Al Michigan: they all try to define good versus evil
[13:22] Al Michigan: now as a boy, we had pour dad who told us the difference and we reliedon our pa, but when he went away we are alone,... and our children are looking up to us, but we are just ... sons with no father, unless there is a greater god.
[13:22] Al Michigan: I was thinking about the early christianity,... where the christ on a cross ment some thing different
[13:22] herman Bergson: That is all very nice, but these books...that us...the people that use them to justify their actions define THEIR good vs evil...
[13:22] herman Bergson: so a GOOD for islam is to kill all infidel for instance
[13:23] herman Bergson: A good for christians is to hate all non believers
[13:23] herman Bergson: and so on
[13:23] Lente (lentelies.anatine) is offline.
[13:23] Al Michigan: But that would be taking the text literally. There is a problem with languages, modern philosophers are taking every word to their value, but the old ppl back then had a language that was not as ours, they had less words, and less definend meanings
[13:23] Al Michigan: .
[13:24] herman Bergson: Hindus believe in a god that looks like an elephant....
[13:24] oola Neruda: I object...
[13:24] herman Bergson: and want to kill all muslims
[13:24] Al Michigan: If you read the qoran a few times; you clearly see an attempt to describe : GOOD, and evil.
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): religion = a way to create conflict between people
[13:24] oola Neruda: the idea is to get people to live in kindness and consideration. of others....
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): more or less
[13:25] herman Bergson: Is it GOOD to kill homosexuals?
[13:25] oola Neruda: God is Love
[13:25] herman Bergson: it is the other way around oola.....love should be our god...
[13:25] oola Neruda: exactly
[13:26] Al Michigan: No, it is not good to kill homosexuals, but nowhere in the Quran is killing off homosexuals described as good. In the contrary.
[13:26] Al Michigan: the Quran says it is wrong to do that.
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but still the opposite seems to be the case, i guess we can thank all extremists for this
[13:26] Al Michigan: Love is God
[13:26] herman Bergson: Well. Al....guess we listened to different explanations of the quran
[13:26] Al Michigan: see Hare krishna.
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): never read the quran
[13:27] herman Bergson: there are tons of other better books to read Bejiita
[13:27] Al Michigan: Yes I red it a few times, and the problem is: it is many pages, but they cannot, do not conflict with each oither. Some lines are literally other a are figuratively
[13:27] Al Michigan: but itmeans like:
[13:28] Al Michigan: it is not whatAllah want, if you decide to go have sex with men.... but it is for Allah to judge, no one else.
[13:28] oola Neruda: do unot others as you would have them do unto you
[13:28] herman Bergson: I am not interested in religions, Al...nor books that are used by religions to justify their beliefs
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): because our view of islam is indeed, kill everyone different in any way including homosexuals and start hijad wars ect. And this is the law in most islamic countries that homosexual = death sentence
[13:29] Al Michigan: Right,thatis the christian thing .. looking for Good, not God
[13:29] Al Michigan: but God is the father.
[13:29] Al Michigan: thatwe had as our... beacon, or...how to be a man!
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but as said, extremists
[13:29] Al Michigan: How should our later husband look like
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the extremists destroy everything
[13:29] herman Bergson: From a materialist point of view religion is irrelevant, and only relevant as a cultural phenomenon and an aspect of human behavior
[13:29] Al Michigan: Yes bejita, i agree
[13:30] Al Michigan: they destroy democracys, wealth
[13:30] Al Michigan: lifes
[13:30] Al Michigan: the other
[13:30] Al Michigan: and every one that does not agree, we should call the them benito's
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well its a mess
[13:30] herman Bergson: as I said....it is a cultural phenomenon we have to deal with and a feature of human behavior
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said id want to research the raw material myself and see what it actually say
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa
[13:32] herman Bergson: ecept from the fact that religion as a group behavior has had and still has an impact on society and the way we live together, it is completely irrelevant
[13:32] herman Bergson: we have to study it as a social phenomenon
[13:33] oola Neruda: forgiveness is very difficult.... that is another arm of love one another
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): agree
[13:33] herman Bergson: has nothing to do with religion, oola....just with social behavior
[13:34] oola Neruda: but the message gets some credence when you lodge it in religious venus
[13:34] herman Bergson: that is a very sad thing oola
[13:35] herman Bergson: we need a conspiracy theory to give positive aspects of behavior credence.....
[13:35] oola Neruda: all things considered, forgiveness can be very difficult...
[13:35] Al Michigan: I donot undertand that miste >Bergson!
[13:36] Al Michigan: whatdio we need a consiracy theory for?
[13:36] oola Neruda: and who benefits most from forgiveness
[13:36] Al Michigan: The forgiver
[13:36] Al Michigan: the forgiver has the most profit
[13:36] herman Bergson: ola said that forgiveness get more credence when wrapped in a religious belief....
[13:36] herman Bergson: I disagree
[13:37] Al Michigan: i disagree too.
[13:37] oola Neruda: it is taught to those who listen....
[13:37] Al Michigan: forgiveness always brings society further, relations further and helps to save wealth
[13:37] Al Michigan: While revenge only destroys.
[13:37] herman Bergson: Especially in our culture christianity ahs claimed to be THE source of the knowledge of good and evil.....and guidance there in....
[13:37] Al Michigan: it hurst every one, so it is stupid.
[13:37] oola Neruda: God is love... ...........
[13:38] Al Michigan: Yes it is about Love!
[13:38] Al Michigan: Annd Hope
[13:38] herman Bergson: I disagree oola.....Love should be our god
[13:38] Al Michigan: and Force to fight on!
[13:38] Al Michigan: at the hand off your father
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): at least SHOULD be love when all is right and correctly interpreted
[13:38] oola Neruda: that is what I said... God is Love
[13:38] Al Michigan: or...Father
[13:39] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): what about your mother?
[13:39] herman Bergson: god does not exist...or is just a word...
[13:39] Al Michigan: isLove ust a word?
[13:39] herman Bergson: Did I say that Al?
[13:39] oola Neruda: yes
[13:40] herman Bergson: no...I did not....
[13:40] Al Michigan: I thingk is the question,... if all ppl had dissapered from earrth,... would there stil be love on earth?
[13:40] oola Neruda: good point
[13:40] Al Michigan: I thingk: yes.
[13:40] herman Bergson: By saying that love our god would be I mean that all our actions towards others should be driven by compassion and understanding and respect for the other.....
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:41] herman Bergson: those virtues we should worship in ourselves
[13:41] oola Neruda: yesssssss
[13:41] herman Bergson: for that we don't need a god.....just our common sense as a human being
[13:41] Al Michigan: But,...then wqe miss our father.
[13:41] Al Michigan: our compass.
[13:42] herman Bergson: BS
[13:42] Al Michigan: our basis off hope
[13:42] herman Bergson: the compass is your inner self....
[13:42] herman Bergson: not some outside source
[13:43] oola Neruda: smiles... thinking of elementary school playgrounds..... you honestly do need someone out there as either an example or a referee
[13:43] Al Michigan: but inside, what is a man other then,..a boy that misses his dad?
[13:43] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): your mother has a compass too:)
[13:43] Al Michigan: My mother?
[13:43] Al Michigan: did she had a compass?
[13:44] herman Bergson: children stil lhave a lot to learn oola....that is a normal biological feature of growing up
[13:44] oola Neruda: some people never do grow up....
[13:44] oola Neruda: I can name some of the..... trump, for example
[13:44] Al Michigan: a san person keeps on learning his whole life!
[13:45] herman Bergson: that doesn't change the fact, that we can say....that person didn't grow up....is just a sick narcissist...we have examples of that!
[13:45] herman Bergson: Can even destroy a whole country
[13:45] Al Michigan: like biden is doing now, but he risks the wholeworld
[13:46] Al Michigan: with starting this ww3
[13:46] Al Michigan: also a big narcissist, ademented one for that matter
[13:46] herman Bergson: ok Al...
[13:46] herman Bergson: At least you all have enough to think about now, I guess..:-)
[13:47] Al Michigan: yeah!
[13:47] herman Bergson: LEt's cool down our brains a little and prepare for the next lecture :-)
[13:47] Al Michigan: Yeah!
[13:47] herman Bergson: thank you all again...:-))
[13:47] Al Michigan: Zo tof!
[13:47] herman Bergson: Class dismissed....
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:47] bergfrau Apfelbaum: Thank you herman and Class:-)
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you:))
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:47] Al Michigan: Thank you ntoo ,mister <bergson,and thank you!
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
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