"How Harmful is Religion?" topics are one of the biggest red herring scapegoat topics you can get, and usually come with a generous side of philosophical wankery. I'm glad we don't talk about it much here. I'd recommend discussion of the impact of particular cultural values and beliefs instead.
Personally, on non-hacker topics, I'd be interested to see more on linguistics, the scientific study of language. We can't even begin a real discussion on most of your listed topics until we know how to recognize and establish semantics and metaphors.
The first problem we run into with "how harmful is religion," for example, is that everyone is going to see 'religion' and think of something completely different, but no-one will notice. Everyone will start arguing and get angry because they're confused and don't realize it. The first problem we run into with "is math invented or discovered?" is defining invention and discovery. But again, most people ignore that question and dive right into discussion.
I'm also less interested in hearing people's opinions about how evolutionary pressures have affected us, than I am interested in hearing about the actual archaeological discoveries that inspire such speculation.
You are spot on with that observation. Somebody says "religion" and everybody runs to their corners ready for an argument instead of a discussion. Same goes for "discovery", "soul", or "justice." I spent about 20 minutes retyping my comment above because of the issues around definitions.
The thing is -- everybody wants to argue what the world is based on their definitions, but nobody wants to take the time to compare notes about just what the heck the other guy is talking about.
I've been in some really good net discussions -- discussions that changed my mind about some closely held beliefs. But you first have to get beyond all the pre-defined BS and canned political arguments people learn to a place where everybody is on the same page and thinking for themselves. Otherwise it's just a waste of time: nothing happens except people posturing and talking past each other. I wouldn't want the board to devolve into that.
Personally, on non-hacker topics, I'd be interested to see more on linguistics, the scientific study of language. We can't even begin a real discussion on most of your listed topics until we know how to recognize and establish semantics and metaphors.
The first problem we run into with "how harmful is religion," for example, is that everyone is going to see 'religion' and think of something completely different, but no-one will notice. Everyone will start arguing and get angry because they're confused and don't realize it. The first problem we run into with "is math invented or discovered?" is defining invention and discovery. But again, most people ignore that question and dive right into discussion.
I'm also less interested in hearing people's opinions about how evolutionary pressures have affected us, than I am interested in hearing about the actual archaeological discoveries that inspire such speculation.