I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?

[robvalue]

Rational belief is a conclusion proportional to the evidence.

Belief on "faith" is a conclusion held regardless of evidence.

Humans are very vulnerable to being irrational, yes. Some of us care enough to try and identify and remove poor thinking, others are more comfortable leaving it there.

[SofaKingHigh]

Humanity as a whole is not meant to know the ultimate truth, since we are still in the physical. This is info from where we came from, not where we are.

What a load of old cunt.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Turns out it's pretty hard to believe in nothing when your psyche is wired for faith.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery...age%2Fcard

After reading the article, my questions are:

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

No. How does that even make any sense? Why would you even bother doing that when its within your power just to make people believe in the first place? Isn't it a contradiction to the entire free will thing if you give people a predisposition to make it easier for people to believe in you? How would you know the difference that you'd 'found god' the legitimate way (whatever that is) as opposed to just becoming a slave to your predisposition?

And how does that solve the issue of the vast majority of the world not believing in the same given deity as everyone else? Did 'God' (which one? How defined?) screw up this predisposition wiring to make humans jump at shadows and mistake everything to be 'God' without really giving them a frame of reference? Does it regret people believing in Vishnu or tikka-takku the coconut god?

If I were a theist I wouldn't go anywhere near this line of thinking. It's shoddy and even more full of contradictions and holes than the usual rhetoric.

[Iroscato]

Wait, I thought evolution was a damned filthy lie spread by Satan? I just can't keep up these days...

[athrock]

Who believes in 'nothing'? I certainly don't.

I just sort of read past that bit in the OP.

I believe in plenty. 

But the things I believe, are supported with evidence and reasoned argument. 

if someone is able to show me that I have a belief that is not supported by evidence, you know what I will do? Stop believing it.

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

According to Pascal Boyer of Washington University, research suggests that our brains are wired in a way that makes believing easy. In a 2008 essay for the journal Nature, Boyer wrote that several features of the human brain predispose us to religious belief.

Among the psychological tendencies at play that are complemented or satiated by religious beliefs are: an ability to relate to imaginary or unseen figures (imaginary friends, deceased relatives, etc.), a desire to avoid danger, and the uniquely human ability to be a part of and maintain massive social structures.

It doesn't say the brain is "wired for faith."  It says that multiple cognitive tendencies are satiated by religious belief.  Why is this?  Likely because these cognitive faculties are very general and powerful, such that when they are misapplied to religious beliefs, they're also strongly sated.  That doesn't mean they were wired for faith, only that we are wired in a way which makes faith possible.  This goes back to our being a highly social species.  We've evolved multiple cognitive abilities that make dealing with intangible minds an easy and fluid task.  When this ability is over-extended, it can be useful in creating relationships with intangible and non-existent minds.

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

Possible, but unlikely.

Just to clarify, "Wired for Faith" was part of the sub-headline at The Washington Post and not my choice of words.

[athrock]

@OP

Why the deceptive thread title?  a) you aren't an atheist, and b) someone who "can't shake God" is pretty much by definition not one either.

The title of the thread is the title of the article.

Did you read it? 

b) seems to indicate that you did not.

[Excited Penguin]

I liked the article. I can relate to the author. I understand what she says. She's perfectly rational about it. She appears to be an atheist and doesn't mischaracterize atheism as some here have hinted that she does.

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

(Emphasis mine.)
Here you answered your own question.

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

Categorically not.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I liked the article. I can relate to the author. I understand what she says. She's perfectly rational about it. She's appears to be an atheist and doesn't mischaracterize atheism as some here have hinted that she does.

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

(Emphasis mine.)
Here you answered your own question.

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

Categorically not.

I liked the article too. Whilst I can't empathise (I've never believed in a deity and never had the 'feeling' for lack of a better word that gods existed) with her I can sympathise and understand it.

[Brian37]

Turns out it's pretty hard to believe in nothing when your psyche is wired for faith.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery...age%2Fcard

After reading the article, my questions are:

Why on God's green earth is the human brain wired for faith when our development is the result of purely evolutionary processes with no supreme being involved at all?

Is it possible that God gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to His existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him?

It isn't that we are wired for faith, that is a mistake I think even atheist biologists make.

If you have not read Dawkins "The God Delusion" he corrects this language and bad argument.

It isn't that we are wired to believe, it is that we evolved with flawed perceptions. 

Evolution leads life to pattern seek, but the flaw is even with that, life does not always have time to slow down to assess or perceptions, and as a result life makes quick decisions, which causes gap filling.

It really is no different than an Antelope on the African plane having to make a quick decision between the swaying grass being mere wind, or a lion stalking it. 

When we evolved the world was scary because of our ignorance, so when something threatened us, a bigger animal, a storm, or earthquake or volcano, humans would survive or die, but without knowing what was really going on, they projected their own human qualities on that which was affecting their good luck or bad luck, and falsely gap filled it with a human like super power in the form of a spirit or god, being the control or the actual thing being a god itself. 

The word for that is "anthropomorphism", projecting human qualities on objects or non existent things.

I cant remember which Ancient Greek said it but, "If horses had gods, the gods would look like horses". No that did not denote a scientific understanding but it was a damned good laypersons lucky guess.

It is a misfire not a wire. It is a flaw in our evolution because we didn't evolve with modern knowledge so gap filling was a way of forming social order which while had the benefit of safety in numbers, it also had the downside of creating success out of completely false claims. 

No different than big oil went out of it's way to ignore science, and use corporate science to keep lead in gas. They successfully marketed a dangerous product for a long time until ethical scientists were finally able to convince the corporate world it was dangerous.

In laypersons terms it amounts to "If you want to believe something badly enough, you will". Even a false belief can cause chemical reactions in your brain that can make you feel good even though they are completely false. Just like telling a kid Santa is coming. The kid when young enough will literally believe in Santa because of the thought of getting presents. Conversely, if they have been scolded by the parents prior to Christmas, the thought of not getting the presents also has a real physical affect. But neither the bribe or the threat make Santa a real being.

[robvalue]

I'm an atheist. So why can't I shake God's hand?