What Is God? What Is Buddha

   Another name to put on the problem he is discussing is "switch flippers." They are people who expect instant solutions. It's dark, you need to see, you flip a switch and problem solved. Science can be very fast that way. Just microwave the food. It's ready in minutes. Turn the key in the car and pass by all the people afoot.

   Of course most of the issues in society are not solved instantly even when science tries. People who grew up in a world where their childish problems were solved by throwing it all in the washing machine tend to expect all problems to be so easy to solve. Oh snap, it doesn't work that way.


   Before television and even in the early days of television people still engaged the world through text, which can be more complex and exacting in dealing with problems, including problems that take decades to solve. The problems on television were solved within thirty minutes or an hour (except the evening news that never solved any problems). Too much television disengaged people from reality and engendered unrealistic expectations of reality.


   So you have atheists who are obviously dissatisfied with religion because it has no instant solutions on Earth. They want science to solve all problems and to solve them just as fast as it solves some mundane ones. That wouldn't be so bad except they expect people to have all the answers and believe people do as long as they are "scientists."


   Real life can require more art than television. Advancing civilization can require rather more extended and complicated work on problems. Membership alone doesn't flip the switch. It doesn't matter membership in what; Republican Party, Democratic Party, religious denomination, atheism, science (like that's a matter of membership), or whatever. Even people who have a genuine concern for sustainability of the planet are not instantly given any talent for it.


   It isn't enough just to fix the brakes on your own car. It is necessary to persuade others they need to do the same and maybe show them how.  Or maybe get a job fixing brakes.