Belief in God can improve mental health outcomes.

[Angrboda]

The concept of self, praise, perpetual identity, free-will, etc, all can be delusions as well. The difference with the former beliefs is that no one can do without them in reality, no matter what the intellectual position they take.

I'm not sure I understand what your point is here, Mystic. I'm lucky in that I seldom have phantom limb pain where my fingers used to be, but even if I were in chronic pain that I couldn't deny, what conclusion would you want to draw from that?

[Mystic]

Well the point is the belief in God can be less useful than belief in morals, self, praise, etc, and the latter type can be necessary for humanity, it doesn't make either one more true or not. From naturalism perspective, I think the strength of our beliefs in self, praise, morals, perpetual identity, comes from the strength of the need. It won't make them true and is unrelated to how true the beliefs are.

Perhaps belief in God is needed as well, but not to the same degree, and hence it's less intense in humanity.

It won't make it true how much we need it.

Such is the delicate nature of these properly basic beliefs.

[Faith No More]

As anyone that has dealt with psychiatric problems will know, short-term gain means nothing. I'm not sure what they think the significance of this study is without judging long-term progress.

[Mystic]

As anyone that has dealt with psychiatric problems will know, short-term gain means nothing. I'm not sure what they think the significance of this study is without judging long-term progress.

Well, the study is recent. Perhaps in years to come, we will come to know of more longer term progress results?

[Fruity]

I rather go crazy from so much wisdom than go sane out of ignorance.


I can't hear you! I'm so happy because there's a hell and that makes it all better! lalalala! I can't hear you!

No thank you.

[Mystic]

^ It's like that guy in the matrix that tries to kill everyone for waking him up from the matrix and wants to go back to ignorance.

[Faith No More]

Well, the study is recent. Perhaps in years to come, we will come to know of more longer term progress results?

Yes, but my point was that until that is done, these results don't really seem to tell us much.

[Mystic]

Yes, but my point was that until that is done, these results don't really seem to tell us much.

Well placebo is known to work for a significant amount of people.

Healing is partially psychological, it's not all biological.

Case in point, when you start believing medications will help you, they tend to help you more.

When you oppose medications, they help you less.

What might be significant, is that, what applies to short term healing, may apply to how non-mentally ill people deal with short term stress, or short term tragedies or short term conflicts.

It's in interesting subject from both view points.

Perhaps why humanity holds on to belief in higher powers, is the need they feel for it although they aren't aware of that being the reason.

But the same can be true of belief in self, praise, perpetual identity, free-will, etc..except these are stronger in intensity because of the more need we have for them.

[Gilgamesh]

Unlike every other atheist in this thread, I'm not offended by this assertion. I agree with it. Atheists (the ones who actually think about it, like us atheists on an atheist message board) all tend to be real downers.

[Ryantology]

I tend to see theists classifying atheists as downers and nihilists, but I don't tend to see much of this in reality.

I'm sure that believing in anything a person views as positive, no matter how silly, is likely to improve the mental state to some degree. What makes this seem disingenuous is the implication that belief in the capital g God has some specific benefit that believing in any other deity or fairy tale would not provide.