What is the most dangerous ideology in the world and what makes it dangerous?

Isaac Asimov famously said, “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”.

The idea that any idea is worth listening to because someone believes in it.

Show me the proof.

I think any idea is worth listening to, it's the assertion that we must inherently accept their viewpoint as valid that is outright absurd.
- I felt this way until recently, when I'm becoming much more aware of how limited our collective attention is. Every honest belief probably deserves to have one (maybe 3) reasonable people listen to it. But they definitely aren't all worth national/state/city/expert attention.
- On the playground sure, but at some level it's show the receipts first or get fucked up to discourage gish gallop. If we don't preemptively shut it down, we're in extreme danger.
I see four downvotes.
Would love to know the position those people have. Are they threatened by their own ignorance being called out? Or are they just conservative?
- I'd like to think that they are just mad that they have to see this quote so often these days.

Religion

Came here to say fascism, but you win. Religion is worse...
- Especially since people use religion to bolster fascism. Fascists love to pander to a nation’s largest religion to lock in their support.
- I think of all superstitions as being a microcosmic form of fascism in a way, in that the mouthpiece of the supernatural is the one dictating the rules of right and wrong and what can transcend reality.
- some say fascism is a form of religion
I got downvoted to hell last time I expressed my views about religion, but it has served me well for 29 years now (having been born in the shadow of the Vatican), so I am willing to share again:
I work, collaborate, spend time and even sometimes have sex with religious people, all while maintaining the idea that each one of them is akin to a dormant terrorist cell, and that given the right conditions their fundamental distancing from reason and in some cases recognition of undeserved authority can turn against me and everyone else.
I live a subtly tense life, but usually I am already in a safe place when shit hits the fan.
I also have a very wide definition of religion and of priest.
I'd say monotheism is the real problem.
not necessarily
- Name an ideological concept that has led to more killing and death then religion...

Capitalism is well on its way to making the planet uninhabitable so Imma have to go with that.

This is surely the correct answer and for the reason you give.
If we're honest (and informed - a big ask, here) then we should concede that capitalism has been generally good for our species. A quadrupling of human population at the same time as a doubling in longevity - the numbers don't lie and they perfectly track the victory of capitalism as the world's economic system. Leftists don't want to hear it, but it's clearly true.
But whatever this ideology did for humanity, it has been a complete disaster for all the other forms of life that we share our planet with. And that fact is going to catch up with us soon enough.
- I think capitalism was a great and necessary thing to get humanity to it's current post-scarcity state. As you said, production and innovation were really aided by capitalism in the early days of man, but now that we have all the shit we need to survive, all it does is deprive those without.

Any religion. It makes people think of themselves as superior to other groups. It doesn't even matter which religion. They're all bad.

Its not necessarily an ideology but all the worst ideologies have at root a lack of empathy and active methods to extinguish any trace of it. So lack of empathy or the violent suppression of it root and stem

I've been warning that the average American lacks empathy for YEARS. Conservatives seemingly lack the ability to feel empathy at all, which is why Musk "warns" that empathy is dangerous.
Look where we are now 🙃
Great, now we have metaideologies.
- I go deep

Greed.

Religion has been said, but religion is always just the excuse for justifying greed

Belief that some unfalsafiable deity is behind you, and therefore any of your actions are righteous is incredibly dangerous, because there's no accountability. How many atrocities are justified by religion, and the belief that justice will be done in the next life?

Religion is used to justify things like the fascist movement currently sweeping through the US, abhorrent regimes in the middle-east, and the subjugation of people (particularly women) everywhere

Of course, religion is the justification, but the real objective is to gather more wealth and power

From the mega-churches in the US, to the Vatican, to the mullah in a village somewhere in the world, it's all about having more

Fascism. It makes people loose their humanity. Fascists endure anything as long as people outside their group are suffering.

American Exceptionalism.

gestures broadly

Well, Islam is definitely up there - and you only need to look at the Middle East for evidence. What makes it particularly dangerous, in my view, is the doctrine itself - especially the parts concerning treatment of women, martyrdom and hatred of infidels.

As someone who escaped Islam - 100%. Unlike other religions that take original texts as interpretations Islam takes the original texts as literal words of God and is essentially stuck. It's a dead religion that exists only through force.
- Yeah, my understanding is that the interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadiths doesn’t allow for the same kind of flexibility or reform that the Bible does, for example. Of course, that doesn’t mean someone can’t practice a non-fundamentalist version of Islam - and many do - but it’s much harder to justify when you're going against what’s considered the literal word of God.

Nazism seem to be the worst since it's an awful mix of nationalism, imperialism, totalitarianism, state racism, eugenics.

A nazi state basically invades its neighbors and genocide their inhabitants based on race, community or health condition.

So far, only the Third Reich applied it, leading to World War II and the Holocaust, but Japan applied some similar behavior in Asia during WWII.

Bonus point: it doesn't even oppose capitalism, so rich people can still greed.

Nazism wasn’t particularly pro- or anti-capitalist as an ideology. Free markets, international finance, and trade weren’t embraced, and private property and businesses were only allowed as long as they aligned with the goals of the state. The government largely dictated production and would nationalize, heavily fine, or even destroy companies that didn’t serve its interests.
Well, Israel seem determined to resurrect it
Oh the irony...

"Us vs them" mentality.

Religion, because they all believe that they are the only ones who are right, and everyone else needs to believe what they believe, or else something bad will come of it.

TESCREAL

It ends in either replacing humans with AGI or massive atrocities in an attempt to achieve it.

And there are people in positions of real power who believe in this stuff and act on it.

Andreessen posted a manifesto where he said that deliberately delaying AGI is basically mass murder and should be treated as such.

I too, think this is a really dangerous one that hasn't quite pinged on most peoples' radar yet because it's so niche, but like you said, when people with power and influence can actually act on it, they have the capacity to cause a lot of harm over what would normally just be fringe philosophies.

The certainty of being right.

Why? Because when (any)one is sure to be right it means the other must be wrong and since they're wrong they probably should not even be allowed to say what they have to say.

I cut a very cherished friend out of my life on Tuesday because of this mentality. When he said "I'm not going to read what you write or consider the point you're trying to make" the first time it was enough. The second time was too much. I expressed my wish for his life to improve, told him good-bye, and removed/blocked him.
The next morning I woke up to a text claiming I didn't value his friendship and that he'd be here for me when I got better. That's when I truly realized how long he'd been disregarding the support and compassion I'd been sending his way.
I spent Tuesday mentally digging a grave for the friendship. I spent Wednesday filling it in, and that night I drank to the loss of a friend and to the health of the man who replaced him.

Good old fashioned tribalism.

Every other answer on this thread boils down to tribalism.

Islam. A combination of misogyny, oppressive laws, puritanical beliefs, child mutilation, condemnation of curiosity, and a particular focus on growth of numbers by both birth and conversion. Other religions are close behind though.

Edit: Didn't realise the OP was called Allah, lol

Didn't realise the OP was called Allah
Yeah, that and their defence of religion makes me question whether or not they ask this in good faith
- I'm surprised by the number of downvotes I got, not that I particularly care about them per se, but the implication that so many people are either Muslim or support Islam on Lemmy is worrying.
- no i am genuinely curious
yeah that's my middle name, i don't think i can change your mind but i will say this that majority of followers of islam have bad beliefs
- If most Muslims have bad beliefs, what's the common denominator/cause?

Look out for number one. Selfishness is at the root of most dangers to humanity.

This mentality and reinforced culture is a big reason inhuman corporate ideals and customs have festered throughout our society like a fungal infection.
It's so difficult to organize because plenty of fellow workers will simply be passive and complacent with whatever increasingly bad lot they're given, or worse, will be straight up class traitors looking to be rewarded by ruthless masters.

Ignorance.

It's practiced by many, in alignment with arrogance. Many different flags, cloths, creeds and livelihoods depend on it.

I'd say it isn't an ideology, but way too many people take pride on being ignorant. so it ends up being one

Neither is this about an ideology per se nor is this quote my own - but I've read this somewhere -

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

Robert Swan (British explorer and environmental activist)

Any and every form of dehumanization.

Any and every form of bigotry.

Any and every form of supremacy.

Any and every form of authoritarianism.

Every single person from the homeless guy at the on-ramp to TACO himself is an ordinary human. Some humans are born into extraordinary circumstances, some humans accomplish extraordinary feats, but we are all human. Humans are not born hating other humans. Hate is taught and encouraged and ingrained so that it may be passed on.

Universal Basic Income is a bandaid on a system couched in one of the ugliest human motivations; greed. I chose my name for that reason; Universal Basic Justice. Justice must be the base motivation; not 'eye for an eye' or 'frontier justice,' but the belief in treating others as you want to be treated; the belief in the powers of forgiveness, responsibility and growth; and the power of compassionate care dedicated to help those that are willing to learn and grow.

If and only if all those fail should a human be separated from society in a humane way that prevents their flaws from harming others.

Death Row is not justice. Guillotines are not justice. Systemic violence is not justice. No government nor individual should be empowered to decide who is worthy of justice, of forgiveness, of growth. Of life.

Every human is fallible. Every human deserves the opportunity to recognize their mistakes as well as the opportunity to learn, grow, and make reparations for those mistakes.

I don't see these changes happening in my lifetime. At this point, I'm not sure we humans have enough lifetimes left to achieve these goals.

What I am sure of is the danger and violence incumbent within any ideology willing to look down at another human being.

misogyny. I'm not saying it causes the most death and harm (though it may), just that I've never met or heard of any dangerous ideology where misogyny wasn't a core element.

Feminism inoculates against fascism.

TESCREAL Because it serves as an excuse for the oligarchs to do whatever they want regardless of the current impact of their actions with the promise of future benefits

Individualism.

It has led to a massive amount of duplication of human effort. We could all live massively improved lives if we acted as a community organization instead of a bunch of individual little fuckers whose opinions matter.

You should see what happens when you try force the people of an natural individualistic bend into community organization. Undermining, diversion and later, violence.
- Right. Underscoring that individualism is a highly sinister force.

Ableism. As disability advocate Imani Barbarin says, if bigotry is the goal, ableism and eugenics are the toolkit. If you look at the history of any form of systemic bigotry, the justification for human atrocities almost always boils down to “well these people can’t contribute to society, so they don’t deserve to be a part of it.”

Any ideology may be dangerous. People who are convinced they're tuned into a privileged view on reality may be willing to kill others to protect it. Human history is full of proofs of that.

"On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology." — Kenneth Clark

Any, all and each one of them. The moment you stop looking at how things are, you are finished and set right on the course of bringing unjustified pain and suffering

Not an ideology but I say extremisms, of all kind. Not only religious and political, those are obvious, but also day to day habits.

Beauty. It gives everybody the illusion that they can decide or at least criticize everything. We will end with an unstable system where control becomes impossible and things collapse.