Small Gods is indeed a great choice. I never thought of it as a “book for atheists” and it’s quite unlikely to turn someone religious into a non-believer - but it’s clever, funny and one of my personal favorite Terry Patches books. So, worst case scenario: you’ve read a highly entertaining book.

“The Bible” is the book that ultimately turned me into a convinced atheist. If you actually read it, without having it filtered and read to you by religious people with agendas, it’s hard to continue believing in any of its insane ramblings. But it’s a really tough, slow and often immoral and revolting read. Mostly, it’s just really stupid.

“The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” is the opposite. It’s a funny, light and often silly read. It’s not exactly deep, but neither are the books it’s parodizing. As a satire of other religious text it works reasonably well in putting the finger in the wound.

“The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever” is just that: a collection of texts and letters on the subject by some brilliant minds: Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Lucrecius, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins and many more … collected and edited by Christopher Hitchens. As an anthology it allows you to dip your toes in and read the texts you are interested in. Maybe my first choice as serious “atheism for beginners” literature.

Of course. But on the other hand: Who else would?

It’s not like Bob from Des Moines is going to find $100 billion behind the sofa cushions to buy it. There aren’t that many companies with much higher valuations.

… nobody ever says Italy.

The writing was on the wall for this one, development had effectively ended two years ago and had already slowed down significantly before that.

It’s a bit pricey (and likely only going up in price with the upcoming licensing changes), but by far the best there is.

I was going to make a joke by posting an obviously stupid and AI generated answer, but I’m genuinely surprised by the insightfulness of Gemini’s answer:

Dealing with bots and AI-generated “slop” (low-quality, repetitive, or irrelevant content) is an ongoing challenge for any online platform, including Lemmy. Here’s a breakdown of strategies and considerations: Challenges:

• Federation Complexity:
  • Lemmy’s federated nature means content comes from various instances, making centralized control difficult.
  • Moderation efforts need to be distributed, which can lead to inconsistencies.
• AI Advancement:
  • AI-generated content is becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it harder to distinguish from human-created posts.
  • Bots can mimic human behavior, evading simple detection methods.
• Balancing Freedom and Control:
  • Lemmy values user autonomy and free speech, which can conflict with aggressive moderation.
  • Overly strict measures might stifle legitimate contributions. Strategies:
• Instance-Level Moderation:
  • Individual Lemmy instances play a crucial role in setting their own moderation policies.
  • Instance administrators can implement tools and rules to filter out unwanted content.
  • Blocking known bot-infested instances is a common practice.
• Community-Driven Moderation:
  • Empowering users to report suspicious activity and content.
  • Implementing robust reporting mechanisms and clear guidelines.
  • Utilizing community moderators to review and take action on reports.
• Technical Solutions:
  • Developing algorithms to detect patterns of bot behavior and AI-generated content.
  • Implementing CAPTCHAs or other verification methods to prevent automated accounts.
  • Enhancing Lemmy’s software to provide better moderation tools.
• User Filtering:
  • Lemmy itself has user level settings that allow for the hiding of bots. As shown in the search results, there are settings that can hide bot activity.
• Community Education:
  • Raising awareness about the dangers of bots and AI slop.
  • Educating users on how to identify and report suspicious content.
• Development of Lemmy Software:
  • As shown in the github issue, there is development discussion regarding excluding bot comments from sorting algorithms. This type of software development will be key to combating bot influence on the platform. Key Considerations:
• The fight against bots and AI slop is an ongoing process.
• A multi-faceted approach is necessary, combining technical solutions, community involvement, and responsible moderation.
• Maintaining a balance between control and freedom is essential for the long-term health of the Lemmy network.