Religion
In reply to the discussion: Too Simple to Be Wrong: Atheism's Bronze-Age Goat Herder Conceit [View all]NoOneMan
(4,795 posts)Religion has had quite a roll early on in expanding the bounds of civilization and spurring the cultivation of the wilds, along with the burning of the heathens. It was theistic religions that taught the animists/pantheists that the world was man's to exploit, given to them as a gift with purpose. Religion changed mankind's entire perception of reality and may mark the turning point where man no longer saw himself as a part of nature, but an entity with a special spirit that could rule over nature. When science could only give us primitive tools, religion gave us arrogance and manifest destiny. But it could only go so far, and has probably outlived its usefulness in the face of the exponential accumulation of scientific knowledge (in terms of the question of "progress" .
Though I'd argue that each of them has completely failed at improving the aggregate happiness of mankind, but as long as this is not relevant to progress it doesn't matter. But if that is the case, progress is not relevant to me.