Philosophy Discussion Forums

Humans are programmed to believe in God because it gives them a better chance of survival, researchers claim. A study into the way children's brains develop suggests that during the process of evolution those with religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs - possibly by working in groups to ensure the future of their community. The findings of Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, suggest that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force.

All in the mind: Scientists have claimed we are born to believe in God.

His work is supported by other researchers who have found evidence linking religious feelings and experience to particular regions of the brain. They suggest people are programmed to receive a feeling of spirituality from electrical activity in these areas. The findings challenge atheists such as Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion, who has long argued that religious beliefs result from poor education and childhood 'indoctrination'.

Professor Hood believes it is futile to try to get people to abandon their beliefs because these come from such a 'fundamental level'. 'Our research shows children have a natural, intuitive way of reasoning that leads them to all kinds of supernatural beliefs about how the world works,' he said. 'As they grow up they overlay these beliefs with more rational approaches but the tendency to illogical supernatural beliefs remains as religion.' The professor, sees organised religion as just part of a spectrum of supernatural beliefs.

In one study he found even ardent atheists balked at the idea of accepting an organ transplant from a murderer, because of a superstitious belief that an individual's personality could be stored in his or her organs. To reinforce his point, Professor Hood produced a blue cardigan during a lecture and invited the audience to put it on, for a £10 reward. This prompted a sea of raised hands to volunteer. He then said that the notorious murderer Fred West wore the cardigan, causing most to put their hand down. Although it was merely a stunt - the cardigan was not West's - the professor said this showed that even the most rational of people can be irrationally made to feel uncomfortable. Another experiment involved asking subjects to cut up a treasured photograph. When his team then measured their sweat production - which is what lie-detector tests monitor - there was a jump in the reading. This did not occur when destroying an object of less sentimental significance. 'This shows how superstition is hardwired into our brains,' he added.

The Rev Michael Reiss, professor of science education at London University's Institute of Education and an Anglican priest, said he saw no reason why such research should undermine religious belief. 'We are evolved creatures and the whole point about humanity is that we are rooted in the natural world.'

Gordon975 wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2018, 6:39 am I would like to propose a topic for discussion which may explain the existence of god in so many diverse and unrelated cultures and suggest that a belief in the supernatural and therefore god is something we are born with.

The following quoted from the UK news paper the Daily Mail from 2009 :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ogist.html

Humans are programmed to believe in God because it gives them a better chance of survival, researchers claim. A study into the way children's brains develop suggests that during the process of evolution those with religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs - possibly by working in groups to ensure the future of their community. The findings of Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, suggest that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force.

The only program I see here is the program of Evolutionary Psychology and its main tenet: that every aspect of human behavior is associated to specific-purpose functions of brain "modules". Since Evolutionary Psychology has become very popular, everything seems to come down to the easy task of proposing evolutionary strategies and linking them to pre-wired modules in the brain. It doesn't work that way.

Belindi wrote: ↑July 26th, 2018, 12:25 pm Were not the earliest gods the ancestors of the family or tribe?

Spectrum wrote: ↑July 26th, 2018, 7:19 am I totally agree DNA wise humans had evolved with a very strong propensity to believe in a God

Greta wrote: ↑July 26th, 2018, 6:31 pm

Spectrum wrote: ↑July 26th, 2018, 7:19 am I totally agree DNA wise humans had evolved with a very strong propensity to believe in a God

Really? So it's not about group selection and environment?

Which are the "God genes"? I was not aware of their discovery.

Gordon975 wrote: ↑July 27th, 2018, 2:21 am

There is a contradiction that exists in that, we believe in God, which may enable our intellect to survive and be happy, but this same intellect is able through science and observation of the facts to deny the existence of Gods and the supernatural. Therefore it may be argued there are no atheists and that there are very few people who genuinely do not believe that God exists, even though they may deny the existence of a higher spirit and afterlife etc based on our modern day understanding of science and our place in the cosmos.

..
Perhaps we are creatures that are evolving to the point that we do not need to believe in God, however this will probably, if it ever happens, take many tens if not hundreds of millennia, through the process of reproductive natural selection, to be genuinely achieved.

Buddhism is fundamentally non-theistic

The communists [most are forced] are also non-theistic albeit now loosening up.

Fact is the potential threat of evil and violence from theism especially Islam [glaringly evident] is too great to be ignored. Christianity on the other hand is not violent

DNA wise humanity will not be able to eliminate the intricate machinery that compel humans to believe in God for survival sake.

Gordon975 wrote: ↑July 27th, 2018, 5:02 am Spectrum Wrote:

Buddhism is fundamentally non-theistic

Although this is true they do believe in reincarnation, which may be in response to the individual humans inability to accept the eventual death of the intellect with the body of which it is part.

Fact is the potential threat of evil and violence from theism especially Islam [glaringly evident] is too great to be ignored. Christianity on the other hand is not violent

Both Islam and Christianity express as part of their core values their belief in a philosophy of peace and reconciliation however, individuals twist religious texts to achieve their political dogmas and so end up with such aberrations as the Islamic state, the Holocaust and worse.

1. Because you are disbelievers
"We hate you, first and foremost, because you are disbelievers;
you reject the oneness of Allah – whether you realize it or not – by making partners for Him in worship, you blaspheme against Him, claiming that He has a son, you fabricate lies against His prophets and messengers, and you indulge in all manner of devilish practices."

It reads:
2. "What’s important to understand here is that although some might argue that your foreign policies are the extent of what drives our hatred,
this particular reason for hating you is secondary, hence the reason we addressed it at the end of the above list.

"The fact is,
even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to HATE you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... ns-8533563