The Pragmatist’s Guide to Crafting Religion

A playbook for sculpting cultures that overcome demographic collapse & facilitate long-term human flourishing

De: Simone Collins, Malcolm Collins

Narrado por: Malcolm Collins

Humanity consists of coevolving software (our religion and culture), firmware (our hardcoded proclivities, such as language acquisition), and hardware (our brains). Ripping out a third of the equation has led to innumerous unintended—and typically negative—consequences. This book offers a guide to rebuilding or fortifying this increasingly neglected aspect of the human condition.

Specifically, The Pragmatist’s Guide to Crafting Religion serves as a playbook for those looking to strengthen traditional cultures in the face of collapsing birth rates or craft entirely new cultures designed to impart strategic advantages to adherents.

Should you listen to this book?

• If you were raised in the absence of a cohesive culture—or don’t like your given culture—but see the value of cultural and religious traditions, this book is for you.
• If you worry your culture or religion will go extinct and would like to see it endure across generations, this book is for you.
• If you have ever thought about inventing a religion or starting a cult, this book is for you.

This book will neither be pleasant nor useful to those who don’t want large families as it defines a successful culture as one that sustainably spreads over the long term—which, outside of a few niche exceptions, requires high birth rates.

©2023 Malcolm Collins (P)2023 Malcolm Collins

Very Prescient

Must read book. If you want to predict the un-winding of western civilization there's no better book. If you want to orientate yourself in the world, cultural group co-evolution is the world view you need.

However, the author's own religion is doomed. They admit that religious reform (i.e. belief in God) is the only thing in history that has raised fertility. They are perusing progressive ideals even though they admit that female education is significantly correlated with below replacement fertility. They have a sci-fi "star-trek" religion, when they admit only Christianity and Judaism are immune to fertility collapse. If the authors were sensible their religion would more closely resemble Christianity than pop-culture.

Very thought provoking

This was a very interesting listen to a worldview and value system that I was quite unfamiliar with. Throughout I found many interesting concepts and while I don't fully agree with their conclusions and solutions the Collinses have certainly identified some important problems that mankind will face in the near and distant future.

I don't know which is more disturbing, the future they wish to create or disasterous one they are trying to avoid. I think they are overly optimistic with regards to technology and are likely setting their future descendants up to be the Eloi rather than the Mentats or Bene Gesserit.

While their concept of "houses" initially comes across as having read too much Game of Thrones and Dune, there is a quite detailed look at how cultures form, grow, prosper, and eventually die.

It's been a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. Hopefully the "future police" will agree that my time was well spent.

The best reading in the game

thank you for putting the book together it's helps me out a lot me and my wife love where you doing having our 2nd kid otw and more on the way I 5 star this fing book all day

Well written and thought out

Engaging and thought provoking. I’d recommend book to anyone interested in expanding their understanding of culture and how it’s produced over time. As a newly married Modern Orthodox Jew of 27 who met their wife in medical school. I enjoyed this book very much and feel the writer has an intuitive understanding of Judaism and my culture. I plan to have our technophilic descendants see yours in the future.

Your smartest, weirdest, successful couple friends

What a wide-ranging book! An analytical romp from culture to religion to parenting to emotions to genetics. If you like new ideas, you'll love this book.

Great analysis on all things existential

This book is extremely well thought out and a pleasure to consume. Really appreciate how the Collins's analysis looks at intersecting ideas/practices in politics, culture, religion, philosophy, etc. through a memetic/evolutionary lens - which is to say, they have probably one of (if not the) most accurate models of the world and where the future is headed. I'd say this book is for anyone like me who can sense there going to be huge shifts in the cultural landscape (not least of which will be caused by population collapse) and want more information on the implications going forward and how to prepare for these inevitable changes.

Personally, couldn't be more excited to participate in the index project and come up with our family's new cultural practices - moving onto the other books in the Pragmatist's Guide series. Cheers!

A book to challenge your worldview and inspire you to craft and perfect your family values

I bet much enjoy this book. It has made me consider the nuances of my worldview and reassess my beliefs and values. I look at life a bit differently. The fresh perspective of the Collinses is an important lens in which to view our society. I suggest you grab some friends and family and read this book-club style.

A work of genius

First, on the performance: Do not read this book expecting a staid professional reader. If you expect that, you will be dissatisfied. Read this like an extended, tightly scripted, podcast hosted by a mad scientist presenting his invention to the world for the first time. If you read it like that, you’ll Love this book. The passion, the enthusiasm, the unscripted asides because the author is just bursting with so many ideas: absolute gold. Far far better than a standard audiobook, so enjoyable — just be in the right frame of mind.

On the actual content: Is it all correct? No. Any groundbreaking treatise like this will inevitably have weird and parochial quirks mixed in. You do not get radical thinkers to build entire shiny new frameworks without some level of fallibility mixed in. But is it worth reading? Oh yes. What is correct far outweighs those things I might think are wrong. And if you have any pretensions to do anything at all which lasts beyond your lifetime, this book is invaluable.

A comprehensive analysis of the role of culture with remarkably few blind spots

Malcom and Simone have thought deeply about one of the most important topics - how do we pass on our culture and value to our children, and how do we make our culture last into the future?

As someone who has lived within a wide swath of Christian communities, I have seen the strengths and weaknesses to various cultural approaches to raising kids, building communities, and influencing culture. Sadly, tribalism causes many such groups to view their neighbors with suspicion instead of seeing them as valuable allies with shared interests.

Malcom and Simone’s outsider perspective dispassionately puts all the categories on the table and questions them thoroughly with no sacred cows or taboos to be avoided.

Repeatedly while listening, I would think “ah, but what about ____?” In regards to some issue or topic that I had considered unexamined in cultural discourse, only to hear Malcolm approach the topic moments later.

While one could criticize the lack of editing in the audiobook, overall the random inclusions of “audiobook only” side trails is entertaining and endearing, and the frantic delivery emphasizes the passion with which Malcom approaches this topic - there’s no time to edit audio, the world is in peril! I actually had to listen at 1x speed to make sure I didn’t miss anything (a rarity for an audiobook)

This is an important book that hopefully will be taken seriously by the innovative leaders within legacy religions. Those who still have the flexibility to tailor their messages and delivery to the young adults considering their future need to shift the telos of the faith back to the creation mandate to “multiply, fill the earth, and bring it into submission”. The outliers will always be welcome in such communities, but the communities themselves will only last as long as they value the future generations wellbeing (including their existence) above their own needs.

One of the most thought-provoking books ever

It is rare to find a book that can so much update my beliefs and thinking. The narrator's personality is pertaining and the ideas are well researched and data driven.