Are humans programmed to belive in god? (page 2)

Are humans programmed to belive in god?

No. Humans are programmed to be inquisitive and use imagination.

ziddina

AAaaarrrgh! (Here we go again...) WHICH god??

Zid

As the brain evolved it evolved intuitiveness as a natural survival skill at the macro scale in which we exist,,that is why our intuitive skills do not serve us very well at the micro scale of atomic particles and the quantum scale of sub atomic particles,, or the vast broader macro scale of galaxies and the universe. the brain's evolution and intuitive senses were not developed at these levels or scales. That I think explains why we invented an imaginary god or in actuality gods by the thousands to explain things like how we got here and who made the things we see. it is merely because that is the way our brains intuitively process things at our common scale and is a natural outcome of survival of the fittest and all that.

Now that we have microscopes, telescopes, linear accelerators, and all kinds of other measuring and observational devices we are forced to drop our natural intuitive understanding of the world as we examine the data and come up with new and better understandings that leave behind the old classical intuitive ideas which does not include a god snapping things into existence with his magic wand or mythological fingers.

Take for instance Gravity hundreds of years ago people in general would never have thought the earth was a sphere and that one could walk on what to them would be the bottom of the sphere and not fall off,, in their intuitive understanding up was up and down was down, with no intuitive understanding of gravity to people in general the earth was flat, it wasn't until we had telescopes and a better understanding of mathamatics that we were able to grasp that the earth was a sphere.

frankiespeakin

Science is by it very nature the enemy of religion and especially the the biblical religions:

Richard Dawkins urges all atheists to openly state their position -- and to fight the incursion of the church into politics and science.

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

MisfitMeL

Hmmmm.... I don't think we are programmed to believe in a god. The god concept is something that is a continually evolving cultural and traditional construct IMO.

Like others have mentioned, we are, however, instinctively curious and inquisitive. Unlike other creatures, we like to exert our control and dominance on all aspects of our environment. When we come across phenomena that is beyond our control, some of us like to investigate some more, while others put it down to supernatural forces that should not be tampered with.

I don't have links or concrete data on hand, but I am sure I have read of several tribal cultures (past and present) that do not believe in a 'god' as such but merely acknowledge that they are a part of nature and have to respect and work along with all of the animals and plants that live around them. They may have rituals etc to pay homage to fearsome wild animals or the fertile land. Ancestor worship is also very common in such cultures, where the deceased are thought to watch over you and guide you. But as for a scary god that puts you in heaven or hell, I don't think they are aware of such a concept. Such cultures are diminishing very rapidly as modern day religions like christianity and islam rabidly try to convert such 'heathens' to their brand of faith. It is such a shame to have such ancient beliefs wiped out from our human heritage

MisfitMeL

Richard Dawkins urges all atheists to openly state their position -- and to fight the incursion of the church into politics and science.
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

I haven't had time to watch the video, but as an atheist I find the term 'militant' atheism quite unsettling and unnecessary. So many religious beliefs have been the cause of wars, bloodshed and torture. Religions have successfully merged with politics to create devastating 'militant' machines and regimes that propogate much horror.

Why should we atheists choose to use such aggressive terms when our goal is to bring about the exact opposite that has been preached in the name of gods?

I agree that we need a more proactive stance against those who would rather wish humanity to regress back to the dark ages, but I'm sure a better term could be found that is more in line with humanism and less as a political ideology. Just my thoughts on the matter

WTWizard

I believe mankind is inherently atheist, and inherently does not believe in any God to answer to. That is programmed into us by religions that are deeply embedded in culture--maybe that's why you have relatively few atheists in the Bible belt, while atheists can be found in places where neither Christianity nor Islam have a foothold.

DJK

Yes. We have been programmed by our parents who were programmed by their parents and so on.

Elsewhere

> Are humans programmed to belive in god?

No. Humans are tought to believe in god. We know this because there are societies where children are not tought to believe in god and therefore the population is mostly secular / atheist.

Interestingly, the less religious a population, the lower the crime rates: http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

journey-on

I do believe mankind has an inherent spiritual component to their "DNA". Throughout time, they have attempted to understand it, get in touch with it, and name it. So, religion sprang up as an organized means to discuss and label this process. Every atheist I know reveals his/her spiritual (for lack of a better word) nature from time to time. We've just had a hard time discovering the source so far.

Are humans programmed to belive in god?

Gerard