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I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm
(This post was last modified: February 4, 2016 at 10:12 pm by athrock.)
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?
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:15 pm
(This post was last modified: February 4, 2016 at 10:16 pm by ignoramus.)
No.
Evolution has wired us strictly for survival and everything that entails.
Blame the cavemen, they started the woo...
The science came a million years later, once they evolved.
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:20 pm
(February 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm)athrock Wrote: 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?
Nature over the millions of years through evolution is what has equipped us with brains able to think sophisticated thoughts to the point that we anthropomorphize things around us and attribute the existence of nature to someone who resembles us in many ways but at level great enough to create such a big world.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:23 pm
Humans are supernatural by nature. When someone hears a rustling in the bushes, the one who runs away from it is more likely to survive than the one who investigates. Then the imagination kicks in, and the one who runs away starts talking about giblins or trolls or whatever. It's not about faith. it's about an overactive imagination.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:27 pm
The author of that article doesn't even understand what atheism is (nor do you). Why should we accept her as any kind of authority (as you're presenting her)?
To answer your questions:
1. Our societies, not evolution, have embedded the god idea in our communal psyche.
2. Not bloody likely.
Thief and assassin for hire. Member in good standing of the Rogues Guild.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:31 pm
Who believes in 'nothing'? I certainly don't.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:41 pm
(This post was last modified: February 4, 2016 at 11:08 pm by Simon Moon.)
(February 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm)athrock Wrote: 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?
We are not pre wired for faith in gods. We are pre wired for our brains to be susceptible to believing things on bad evidence and for bad reasons.
Our brains are not one thing. They are kludged together from several parts and systems left over from our ancient evolutionary past, with more recent parts stuck to the front, and not well wired to the rest. Faith based religious beliefs are a side effect of the way our brains are constructed, not the purpose of some god.
We evolved to survive on the African Savannah, where pattern recognition, induction, and inference were among our survival mechanism. These lead to seeing agency where there is none, seeing relations between actions/results where there aren't any, feeling like there is something communicating with us internally when it is just our own minds.
Is it possible a god gave us brains that are pre-wired for receptivity to his existence to make it easier for us to believe in Him? If you mean in the "well, nothing is impossible" way of being possible, I guess the answer would be yes.
But, before you can begin to speculate on whether our brains were pre wired to believe in gods, you have to demonstrate that at least one of them exists. Only then can we begin to speculate on the attributes of one of these gods. Including it's human brain tinkering abilities.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:45 pm
(February 4, 2016 at 10:31 pm)Stimbo Wrote: 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.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:47 pm
(February 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm)athrock Wrote: 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? Quote: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.
(February 4, 2016 at 10:10 pm)athrock Wrote: 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.
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RE: I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?
February 4, 2016 at 10:55 pm
@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.
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