RE: Isn't it funny...
August 11, 2017 at 5:17 pm
(This post was last modified: August 11, 2017 at 5:38 pm by Mister Agenda.)
pabsta Wrote:[li] … that studies have been performed confirming that there is no place on earth where religion hasn't been practiced? Why do people have this built-in instinct?[/li]
I'm pretty sure there are uninhabited spots where religion hasn't been practiced. Just sayin'.
However, it is true that for most of our history, when presented with a choice between a magical explanation for something and admitting we don't know; we have a propensity for picking the magical option. Also, we demonstrably have a tendency to ascribe agency to undirected phenomena. Likely evolution favored people who thought a rustle in the grass was a tiger over people who wanted to make sure. Now that tigers aren't such a big threat, the value of jumping to the conclusion of agency is considerably reduced. And rational skepticism requires a mental toolbox for critical analysis that has taken us centuries to devise and wasn't available to the average, or even most of the most highly educated people 3,000 years ago. Of course most, if not all, ancient cultures were convinced of magic and supernatural beings.
pabsta Wrote:[li] … that every person is born with a built-in knowledge that actions such as murder, suicide, theft, and deceit are wrong, without ever having to learn about this in school?[/li]
There seem to be some exceptions. but those notwithstanding; we have innate moral sentiments regarding empathy, fairness, and reciprocity; so we start with some 'moral grammar' built in (most of us, anyway). Other social primates have these inborn features too. Turns out they help in the success of a social species. And by the time a child goes to school, instruction about what they are and are not allowed to do has rarely been absent from their tutelage up until kindergarten.
pabsta Wrote:[li] … that every person instinctively begs God for help when death appears imminent, whether they previously learned to do this or not?[/li]
False.
pabsta Wrote:[li] … that men and women just happen to be created with a built in desire for one another?[/li]
It would be hard for us to have evolved without that being the case sufficient to ensure reproductive success, wouldn't it?
pabsta Wrote:[li] … that the human brain, a 3 pound piece of tissue, is the most complex computer found on the planet?[/li]
A sperm whale's brain is about 18 pounds. Why are you so sure that IT isn't the most complex computer found on the planet?
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
