Athena debunks some Buddhist Quantum goodness

Athena Andreadis has written a somewhat acerbic and, in my opinion excellent criticism of some Buddhist video about how Buddhism is "compatible" with quantum mechanics. The video is only mild nonsense compared to what we see from Christianity, so I wrote an initially positive comment about it on Sentient Developments. But then I read Athena's Post:

Physicists and mathematicians are aware of these limitations when they use such constructs [such as Schrodinger's equation]. In contrast, when people who are not conversant with a scientific concept use it to lend credibility to shaky or shady conclusions, they become demagogues and/or charlatans. And before anyone trots out the elitism hobby-horse, all I can say is, just have the next person you meet on the street repair your car or give you a haircut. The same logic applies, and no amount of skimming Wikipedia entries will make up for in-depth knowledge and critical thinking.

Buddhism has become fashionable among people who wish to be considered spiritual but not religious, many of them self-proclaimed progressives – hence it’s de rigeur not to criticize it. Some of its prestige comes from politics (primarily the Tibet/China situation, but only because it’s pertinent to US financial concerns), some from the intelligence and charisma of the current Dalai Lama, some from the simple fact that it appears exotic to Westerners when compared to the home-grown Abrahamic monotheisms.

I like the aesthetics of Zen Buddhism very much. However, there is nothing to attract me in the religion’s misogyny (women have no souls and must be reborn as men to attain Nirvana), its primitive cosmology of universe-toting turtles, its punitive stance that suffering is the result of bad past karma, its oppressive policies whenever it gained its share of temporal power (including pre-Chinese Tibet, which was a far cry from Shangri-La) or the dog-like master/disciple formula that I dissected in my critique of that pinnacle of ersatz mythology, Star Wars.

Worse yet, what is the outcome of suppressing desire, Buddhism’s ultimate goal? It’s the fate of the Miranda settlers in Serenity, the fate of any conscious being that gazes obsessively at its navel with the belief that reality is but an illusion. If this is true, why explore or invent? The Western religions have an awful lot to answer for. But at least in their figures of defiance, from Prometheus to Lucifer, they incorporate a key element: striving for something larger than one’s puny self without letting go of one’s individuality.

Yes, I agree completely. Good work, Athena!

Though, in defence of Buddhism I will say that many people need some kind of comforting nonsense, and Buddhist nonsense seems to be relatively harmless compared to Islamic nonsense, for example. It's like when I go to the dentist, he could tell me not to eat any sugary foods, ever. But he knows I'll eat some sugary foods, so he recommends that I eat bananas rather than deep fried Mars bars. I see Buddhist nonsense vs. Islamic or Christian nonsense a bit like this.