The question itself, 'What is god?', presupposes the existence of god. Strangely, I cannot recall ever being asked to define god before. I have asked others to do so, but I have never tried to do it myself. So... here is my answer to that question.
God (or 'gods' in most of the original mythoi) is a concept created by the fear and imagination of primitive peoples to explain the mysteries of their world and to provide comfort about what happens 'after death'. Organized religion grew around these superstitions as the first form of government and 'god's law' became a way to control the masses, while offering false hope and the threat of divine retribution. The carrot and the stick, as it were.
Now, thousands of years later, science has been able to explain many of those mysteries and the concept of 'god' has changed for many believers. Many self-styled believers seem to believe in the Einsteinian God, except that they project human emotion and motives onto it, as if it were an actual being. I see no reason to believe that personally. I believe that lifelong indoctrination and peer pressure are the primary reasons people still believe in god.
As a matter of fact, I think that a lot of so-called believers never really give it any thought at all. When asked, 'Do you believe in God?', they reply automatically with, 'Yes, of course.' Do they really? A lot of them probably do not, but they haven't actually thought about it, so they aren't aware of their own disbelief. They may think they are theists, but they are actually 'apatheists'. Admitting that you do not believe is a lot harder than going with the flow. It's the 'sheeple' syndrome in action.
God (or 'gods' in most of the original mythoi) is a concept created by the fear and imagination of primitive peoples to explain the mysteries of their world and to provide comfort about what happens 'after death'. Organized religion grew around these superstitions as the first form of government and 'god's law' became a way to control the masses, while offering false hope and the threat of divine retribution. The carrot and the stick, as it were.
Now, thousands of years later, science has been able to explain many of those mysteries and the concept of 'god' has changed for many believers. Many self-styled believers seem to believe in the Einsteinian God, except that they project human emotion and motives onto it, as if it were an actual being. I see no reason to believe that personally. I believe that lifelong indoctrination and peer pressure are the primary reasons people still believe in god.
As a matter of fact, I think that a lot of so-called believers never really give it any thought at all. When asked, 'Do you believe in God?', they reply automatically with, 'Yes, of course.' Do they really? A lot of them probably do not, but they haven't actually thought about it, so they aren't aware of their own disbelief. They may think they are theists, but they are actually 'apatheists'. Admitting that you do not believe is a lot harder than going with the flow. It's the 'sheeple' syndrome in action.
