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FFT
Emperor of the Galaxy
Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 5847
Location: Memphis
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 Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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France? Neat.
However.
The subject is majorities. |
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P1234567890
Emperor of the Universe
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6772
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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| RevJP wrote: | P123...
| Quote: | | I find it fascinating that with extremely high accuracy, a person's religion can be predicted by the longitude and latitude of where they're from. |
Hmmm... interesting.
I was born at: 47 10' 15.98" N by 0 14' 49.56" E
What religion am I, or should I be? |
I'm not saying that it's exactly right all the time, but rather that it gives an extremely good prediction. It is certainly more accurate than weathermen predicting whether the sun will shine in 3 days...
The fact that my stupid religious prediction system is better than pulse-doppler radar says something... |
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Ana
King of the Jungle
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 1549
Location: BC
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| Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:23 am Post subject: |
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| RevJP wrote: | P123...
| Quote: | | I find it fascinating that with extremely high accuracy, a person's religion can be predicted by the longitude and latitude of where they're from. |
Hmmm... interesting.
I was born at: 47 10' 15.98" N by 0 14' 49.56" E
What religion am I, or should I be? |
You were born in somebody's backyard, it would seem... in France, not far from where King Richard the Lionheart's remains are buried. According to the Religio-tron, you probably worship . . . Mulungu?  |
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P1234567890
Emperor of the Universe
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6772
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:40 am Post subject: |
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| In any case, if you were born in France, then the trivial religion predictor would peg you as a Christian, which is correct. It just gets the branch of Christianity wrong, since you're not Catholic. |
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FFT
Emperor of the Galaxy
Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 5847
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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Catholics aren't Christians, though. 
Scrap it, start over! |
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Ana
King of the Jungle
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 1549
Location: BC
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Tiptronic wrote: |
And that would also apply to converts? They were not born into Islam. No-one in this free and democratic society is forcing it upon them. They are of an age where they can decide for themselves, where they can weigh things up and make informed choices. Free-will.
| P1234567890 wrote: | | Tiptronic wrote: |
And where do the masses of converts come into this? They weren't 'assigned' by their parents to be Muslims, neither do most of them live in predominantly Muslims lands. And, to point out, they are from the so-called intellectual hubs of the planet, the West, where they're not the uneductaed village folk. |
The intellectual hubs of the planet (universities, etc.) are where the secular humanists, agnostics, and atheists hang out. I have yet to see ANYONE in my department converting to ANY religion. |
My point - if a religion had its converts coming from the uneducated village folk, well you could have an argument there. But to see such a great number of converts from the West, well thats another thing. |
I think that if most of the converts to any particular line of thought, religion, group, etc. are coming from intellectual hubs (such as large urban centers), then it's probably because they are exposed to most of the accompanying propaganda. |
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Flashman
Pit Bull
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 371
Location: MO
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Ana wrote: |
I think that if most of the converts to any particular line of thought, religion, group, etc. are coming from intellectual hubs (such as large urban centers), then it's probably because they are exposed to most of the accompanying propaganda. |
Hey, Ana. Would you give me your idea of what propaganda is, please? I think I know, but in order to understand your entire meaning, it would be helpful if you expounded a tad. Thanks. 
By the way, I've been meaning to tell you, I love your avatar. |
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Ana
King of the Jungle
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 1549
Location: BC
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Flashman wrote: |
Hey, Ana. Would you give me your idea of what propaganda is, please? I think I know, but in order to understand your entire meaning, it would be helpful if you expounded a tad. Thanks. |
Any distributed information, usually with a slant. A lot more of this goes on where large groups of people gather than in places where 'uneducated village folk' live.
| Flashman wrote: |
By the way, I've been meaning to tell you, I love your avatar. |
Thanks! It's like me: the cogs spin slowly enough that you can see the gears turning! |
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Flashman
Pit Bull
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 371
Location: MO
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Ana wrote: |
Any distributed information, usually with a slant. A lot more of this goes on where large groups of people gather than in places where 'uneducated village folk' live.
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If you mean like "streetcorner" propaganda, I'm sure you are right. Us village folk hardly walk sidewalks anymore <grinning almost proudly>. It's been a while since I've lived in a big city (L.A., Nashville, Norfolk & Minneapolis), but I have to say that I still get about the same amount of distributed information.
I think potential converts just reach an "uncomfortable" point in their life where they feel they need a change and then they find a "point of interest" to explore leading to conversion to "whatever". Admittedly, I'm not an expert in human social conversion dynamics, but this is just my off-hand offering to the discussion.
Like, take the stereotypical rich guy who grows up playing tennis and going to Ivy League schools. The guy probably won't need/want to convert (to anything) since he will probably not have many difficult trials & discomfort. The middle and lower classes seem to dominate the per capita conversion candidates. (again, just conjecture mixed with some anecdotal observations in Christianity).
So, I'm saying that my opinion would be that socio-economics plays more of a role than the amount of available propaganda. Just a thought. |
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Ana
King of the Jungle
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 1549
Location: BC
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| Flashman wrote: |
If you mean like "streetcorner" propaganda, I'm sure you are right. Us village folk hardly walk sidewalks anymore <grinning almost proudly>. It's been a while since I've lived in a big city (L.A., Nashville, Norfolk & Minneapolis), but I have to say that I still get about the same amount of distributed information.
I think potential converts just reach an "uncomfortable" point in their life where they feel they need a change and then they find a "point of interest" to explore leading to conversion to "whatever". Admittedly, I'm not an expert in human social conversion dynamics, but this is just my off-hand offering to the discussion.
Like, take the stereotypical rich guy who grows up playing tennis and going to Ivy League schools. The guy probably won't need/want to convert (to anything) since he will probably not have many difficult trials & discomfort. The middle and lower classes seem to dominate the per capita conversion candidates. (again, just conjecture mixed with some anecdotal observations in Christianity).
So, I'm saying that my opinion would be that socio-economics plays more of a role than the amount of available propaganda. Just a thought. |
I think that both play a role. Take your hypothetical guy who feels uncomfortable and looks for a point of interest, for example. Which scenario is more likely?
a) He will look up all possible points of interest that may alleviate the discomfort, land on religion, then look into all the possible religions before carefully selecting the one that best suits his needs (and seems, to him, the most believable), or
b) He will think to himself, "hmm, I keep seeing posters for religion Q. I think that may fill the void in my life. Yes, I think I'll give that a try."
You'll note I've simplified things a bit - this is because I'm also not a conversion expert. I think conversion tactics are similar to advertising tactics (only lower scale, due to funding). This includes missionary work, by the way. Religions are all about spreading the word. Subjecting fish to repeated exposure to nets get you more of them! It's all just a big ad campaign, if you ask me! |
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FFT
Emperor of the Galaxy
Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 5847
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:20 am Post subject: |
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| It's usually more like C) his family members pressure him into whatever sect they were pressured into. |
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P1234567890
Emperor of the Universe
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6772
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| FFT wrote: | | It's usually more like C) his family members pressure him into whatever sect they were pressured into. |
...and it's all a function of geography. |
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cballard
Bear
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 690
Location: WV
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| Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:27 am Post subject: |
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Despite differences, Mulims, Christians and Jews all accept the Old Testament as delivered by Prophets and the one God. They also teach the ressurection of the body and a retribution according to works. All of these are really beyond human reasoning and require faith and that gift of faith is something we share in common.
Oh, by the way Protestants don't quite fit into this picture because they don't agree with the judgement according to works. Since I'm computer illiterate and can't make a smiley face I have to add "Ha, Ha." going against my admonishments to Michael. |
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Ana
King of the Jungle
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 1549
Location: BC
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| Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:41 am Post subject: |
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| cballard wrote: | Despite differences, Mulims, Christians and Jews all accept the Old Testament as delivered by Prophets and the one God. They also teach the ressurection of the body and a retribution according to works. All of these are really beyond human reasoning and require faith and that gift of faith is something we share in common.
Oh, by the way Protestants don't quite fit into this picture because they don't agree with the judgement according to works. Since I'm computer illiterate and can't make a smiley face I have to add "Ha, Ha." going against my admonishments to Michael. |
What's with all the anti-Protestantism? This thread isn't about how different beliefs share similar properties; it's about how we can predict that if you were born in, say, Denmark, you would probably be a Protestant. |
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P1234567890
Emperor of the Universe
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6772
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Ana wrote: |
What's with all the anti-Protestantism? This thread isn't about how different beliefs share similar properties; it's about how we can predict that if you were born in, say, Denmark, you would probably be a Protestant. |
Yes, exactly. In fact, the VAST majority of people alive have their religion simply because of where they were born. |
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