Religion? Natural and ingrained?

[jambajuice]

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200512/god-accident

Some new research into the nature of religion and human behavior. Humans may be predisposed to be religious.

[redstar2000]

This article is viewable only by Atlantic subscribers. If you are not yet a subscriber, please consider subscribing online now. In addition to receiving a full year (ten issues) of the print magazine at a rate far below the newsstand price, you will be granted instant access to everything The Atlantic Online has to offer—including this article!

They actually want people to pay to read this bullshit?

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[jambajuice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2005, 05:17 AM

This article is viewable only by Atlantic subscribers. If you are not yet a subscriber, please consider subscribing online now. In addition to receiving a full year (ten issues) of the print magazine at a rate far below the newsstand price, you will be granted instant access to everything The Atlantic Online has to offer—including this article!

They actually want people to pay to read this bullshit?

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/223.gif
It is written by Paul Bloom:
http://www.yale.edu/psychology/FacInfo/Bloom.html

I bought the magazine. Excellent and well researched articles. If they are right, that has some very deep implications. First of they studied infants. They came into this with no political or economic motives.

"One: human beings come into the world with a predisposition to believe in supernatural phenomena. And two: this predisposition is an incidental by-product of cognitive functioning gone awry."

If they are right. Then there are some very strong genetic and evolutionary forces that set up humans to believe in religion.

[ComradeOm]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2005, 05:05 PM
I bought the magazine. Excellent and well researched articles. If they are right, that has some very deep implications. First of they studied infants. They came into this with no political or economic motives.

"One: human beings come into the world with a predisposition to believe in supernatural phenomena. And two: this predisposition is an incidental by-product of cognitive functioning gone awry."

If they are right. Then there are some very strong genetic and evolutionary forces that set up humans to believe in religion.
What’s so special about infants? Most children are afraid of the dark at first. Does this mean that I should sleep with the light on? Just as I outgrew believing that there were monsters under my bed, I outgrew believing that some big guy in the clouds was watching me.

And, despite all efforts, today’s search for the “God gene” has proven as elusive as the medieval search for the organ of the soul.


They actually want people to pay to read this bullshit?
Enlightenment does not come cheap :lol:

[Publius]

The Atlantic is supposed to be quite a good magazine.

I wasn't impressed though.

Guess I'm not bourgeious enough! :lol:

[redstar2000]

If you want us to comment on an article, you must either give us a working link or you must actually type it out and post the full text.

Even the short summary you posted makes no sense.


One: human beings come into the world with a predisposition to believe in supernatural phenomena. And two: this predisposition is an incidental by-product of cognitive functioning gone awry.

If one is to speak of "cognitive functioning gone awry", then one is simply saying that sick people have brains that don't work properly and therefore they believe in supernatural phenomena.

What does sickness have to do with "genes" and "evolution"...except as a way of "culling" the "unfit"?

I tell you frankly: this guy sounds like he wants to be nominated for a "Templeton Prize".

I wouldn't trust a single word out of his mouth.

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[anomaly]

I read the article and it seemed the guy knew what he was talking about. I found it a blast against the idea of god by pointing out that the belief in god is simply an accident. My interpretation is that the author wants us to realize that god is an accident, and move on. But that's just my interpretation. Anyway, I found the article rather good.

[jambajuice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2005, 04:08 AM
I read the article and it seemed the guy knew what he was talking about. I found it a blast against the idea of god by pointing out that the belief in god is simply an accident. My interpretation is that the author wants us to realize that god is an accident, and move on. But that's just my interpretation. Anyway, I found the article rather good.
The study of infants is very significant. They have not been prejudiced yet or culturalized.

The article seems to suggest that the human brain has been prewired to believe in supernatural. It describes that the concepts of 'soul' and 'spirit' are prewired into humans.

It also describes religion as 'religion-as-opiate'. Which makes religion as a primitive form of 'intelectualism'. It is 'intelectual' because it serves to answer questions and answer questions typically explored by intellectuals.

Another model is the social glue model. Where religion serves as a 'social glue' and gives an advantage over other groups not nearly as socially organized to cooperate.

Anyhow there is more, but I have not yet digested this article.

[jambajuice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2005, 01:54 AM


I tell you frankly: this guy sounds like he wants to be nominated for a "Templeton Prize".



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Paul Bloom:

Professor Yale and Ph.D., 1990, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[die4oil]

I didn't read the article but I've heard one of the proponets on a radio program. It actually makes since in and evolutionary since. It is my personal opinion that patriarchy has similar pre-human origins. However fret not, they are both conditioned as well as biological and after a few generations of socialism, traits like this will 1) have no purpose and 2) not be encouraged, thus leading to a society where they are absent (communism)!

[jambajuice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2005, 05:32 AM
I didn't read the article but I've heard one of the proponets on a radio program. It actually makes since in and evolutionary since. It is my personal opinion that patriarchy has similar pre-human origins. However fret not, they are both conditioned as well as biological and after a few generations of socialism, traits like this will 1) have no purpose and 2) not be encouraged, thus leading to a society where they are absent (communism)!
The article discusses religion as a type of behavior that is 'run amok'. The problem is that this behavior has been selected by evolution for THOUSANDS of generations. The biological component of supernatural and religious behavior is deeply ingrained by evolution. An example of this 'run amok' is the evolution vs creationism battle in public schools. People perfectly rational, industrial, and technological 'run amok' in thier support of creationism. This is an extreme, but this kind of wiring in in all of us.

[Ol' Dirty]

All people are born agnostic. They are either brainwahed into religion, or they choose to convert. It's that simple. And it's that stupid :lol: !