RE: The Development of Organized Religion
August 1, 2010 at 8:33 am
(This post was last modified: August 1, 2010 at 8:33 am by Welsh cake.)
Around 500,000 years ago in our evolution, the hominid brain increased in size, the neocortex expanded, this over time resulted in higher order cognitive functions, this is what helped us ultimately to become one of the most successful organisms around, but with this acquisition, our world-view changed, necessitating the need for human religiosity.
We are a social species, emotional, that depend upon each other to survive and once we started changing our surroundings to suit us rather than adapt we began to thrive, but our need to understand our environment better became all too apparent. Undoubtedly we were terrified of the near-infinite complexity of reality; much was beyond our understanding or knowledge base. Natural occurrences such as lighting storms, volcanic eruptions, lunar eclipses and so, coupled with illness and diseases contributing to our pitifully short life-spans, we were obviously terribly afraid of the unknown, many of us still are today, and this was counterproductive to our process.
Our cognitive capacity, although not fully-realised, still gave us an edge against natural predators and other various threats but unfortunately the religious mind is a consequence of a brain that's large enough to formulate religious and philosophical ideas.
People not only needed an explanation for these occurrences in nature but they themselves needed a purpose, a meaning to our haphazard lives; we're like children, we naturally crave comforting answers that appeal to our emotions rather than the cold truth of reality. Many of us today cannot even accept we're simply born, we live, and we die. This psychological need back then couldn't be met with knowledge - we were too primitive, probably way too savage, our pool of information was inadequate, and we lacked the enquiry or means to understand these phenomena.
Thus gave rise to early law and concepts in beings that were responsible for these observable events and more so that they actively cared about human affairs to ensure they have practical relevance that apply to conditions of worth in early civilization.
After all, any belief in god(s), like beliefs in a giant frog who lives in the sun is utterly meaningless unless the giant frog loves you when you behave lawfully and punishes you when you behave unlawfully.
We are a social species, emotional, that depend upon each other to survive and once we started changing our surroundings to suit us rather than adapt we began to thrive, but our need to understand our environment better became all too apparent. Undoubtedly we were terrified of the near-infinite complexity of reality; much was beyond our understanding or knowledge base. Natural occurrences such as lighting storms, volcanic eruptions, lunar eclipses and so, coupled with illness and diseases contributing to our pitifully short life-spans, we were obviously terribly afraid of the unknown, many of us still are today, and this was counterproductive to our process.
Our cognitive capacity, although not fully-realised, still gave us an edge against natural predators and other various threats but unfortunately the religious mind is a consequence of a brain that's large enough to formulate religious and philosophical ideas.
People not only needed an explanation for these occurrences in nature but they themselves needed a purpose, a meaning to our haphazard lives; we're like children, we naturally crave comforting answers that appeal to our emotions rather than the cold truth of reality. Many of us today cannot even accept we're simply born, we live, and we die. This psychological need back then couldn't be met with knowledge - we were too primitive, probably way too savage, our pool of information was inadequate, and we lacked the enquiry or means to understand these phenomena.
Thus gave rise to early law and concepts in beings that were responsible for these observable events and more so that they actively cared about human affairs to ensure they have practical relevance that apply to conditions of worth in early civilization.
After all, any belief in god(s), like beliefs in a giant frog who lives in the sun is utterly meaningless unless the giant frog loves you when you behave lawfully and punishes you when you behave unlawfully.
(July 30, 2010 at 11:59 am)AnunZi Wrote: But, what if you can make people believe that if they steal, if they kill, if the act like tools…. Well, the great invisible sky wizard is watching. He can see all, he knows when you have been naughty. You won’t be punished now, that happens when you die! “So you must live by rules” says Mr. Constantine, or you’re going to hell for all eternity.Were I ruler, and wanted to remain ruler, and not ousted (which usually results in my imminent death), I'd invoke my own sovereignty (similar to the Divine Right of Kings) and openly declare the giant frog in the sun has spoken, he says I am ruler, you disagree with me, you disagree with the giant frog in the sun, therefore taxes go up!
