How your brain creates God

[Jaguar]

Born believers: How your brain creates God - science-in-society - 04 February 2009 - New Scientist

a snippet:

Human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times. Our brains effortlessly conjure up an imaginary world of spirits, gods and monsters, and the more insecure we feel, the harder it is to resist the pull of this supernatural world. It seems that our minds are finely tuned to believe in gods.

The origin of religious belief is something of a mystery, but in recent years scientists have started to make suggestions. One leading idea is that religion is an evolutionary adaptation that makes people more likely to survive and pass their genes onto the next generation.

[Enchantress]

Hmm, most religions tell you not to be promiscuous/sleep around etc. How does that serve as an evolutionary adaptation to aid in passing on one's genes?

Also, I'm sure not everyone only thinks of/relies on God during difficult times...

And I hate this whole debate of Science vs. Religion - Why on earth do they have to be mutually exclusive?

[Evil_Genious]

Just wait til Scrooge shuts down the argument with a 10'000 word copy and paste from IslamQ&A....

[Iroquois Pliskin]

Ouch lol^

There are many threads like this, just search them!

[BlackmaideN]

Originally Posted by Enchantress Hmm, most religions tell you not to be promiscuous/sleep around etc. How does that serve as an evolutionary adaptation to aid in passing on one's genes?

True. I think it's possible that since we follow a religion we unite together more with people from the same religion thus we can out compete other's for resources hence further our survival and give us a more chance of passing our genes. However this theory seems flawed as you pointed out and I'm sure there's other examples out there.

Our cognitive makeup naturally gravitates towards believing things that we really have very little evidence for, such as God, aliens, astrology etc. especially in difficult times. So why do we believe in God? Probably because we want to believe in God. It gives us hope and makes us feel good (it's comforting to know that someone is always out there watching over you). We seek simplicity in our lives, and belief in God and other supernatural things can provide us with simple explanations for life's events.

[Scrooge]

Originally Posted by Evil_Genious Just wait til Scrooge shuts down the argument with a 10'000 word copy and paste from IslamQ&A....

wahey

[shelim]

Originally Posted by Evil_Genious Just wait til Scrooge shuts down the argument with a 10'000 word copy and paste from IslamQ&A....

im looking forward to reading this haha

loool

scrooge hithim where it hurts