OT: Practical rules in religious wrapper (was: demise of COBOL WAS: )

..    On  23.11.04
wrote  spamblocker-robert@wagner.net (Robert Wagner)
on  /COMP/LANG/COBOL
in  ub75q0p2t0cm7qisa7r1mrpoo3t2e6ls38@4ax.com
about  Re: OT: demise of COBOL  WAS: Infinite Loops and Explicit Exits


RW> Humans have a built-in moral code that isn't tied to religion, it's
RW> tied to survival. A rule like 'don't have sex with close relatives'
RW> has practical ramifications -- offspring are more likely to be
RW> mentally retarded.

Actually it did not begin with that reason, as you can see in the
animal world, but rather as a protection against cannibalism.


RW> When I lived in Japan, the Shinto religion said planting trees on
RW> hill ridges 'pleased the gods'. Well it also had the practical
RW> benefit of protecting cropland from salt spray thrown up by typhoons.
RW> People did the right thing for the wrong reason.

I don't think so. It is just that the rule got coded as a religious
one, as one of universal applicability, and unchangeability.


Yours,
Lüko Willms                                     http://www.willms-edv.de
/--------- L.WILLMS@jpberlin.de -- Alle Rechte vorbehalten --

Als er am Kirchhofe vorbei ging, sagte er: Die da können nun sicher sein, da
ß sie nicht mehr gehängt werden, das können wir nicht. -G.C.Lichtenberg