Okay . as personally I believe in a Supreme Being (but do not describe it with either gender or anthropomorphic[ humanlike ] traits .. and do not subscribe to any orthodox conceptions of "deity" ... My arguments for why a scientific atheism or agnosticism will never be realised ( In a John Lennon 'Imagine' sense) is this :
Personally I think there is both a tendency to animism and a 1)theurgic part of the brain ... that is impossible to suppress .. such that 2)humanity as we know it will always create these things ...
1)theurgic part of the brain: There is a helmet in experiment in labs that sends theta waves to a part of the brain ... painless .. no injections .. just waves to stimulate .. some people report bliss .. some cry ecstatically .. some see light ... and all outside of any religious contexts .. so my assertion is that it is "wired" into us .. such that some will always have "theurgic experiences" ..
2006-08-21 02:03:42 · 11 answers · asked by gmonkai 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
2)As we can't make a big white room devoid of characteristics ... our tendency .. to find and make symbols .. which develop to ideas and deeper layers will never end as long as we are .. it is as basic to us as evolving language, and perhaps precedes it ..
I appreciate your feedback on this ...
2006-08-21 02:04:25 · update #1
2)As we can't make a big white room devoid of characteristics (of our world) ... our tendency .. to find and make symbols .. which develop to ideas and deeper layers will never end as long as we are .. it is as basic to us as evolving language, and perhaps precedes it ..
I appreciate your feedback on this ...
2006-08-21 02:04:58 · update #2
Don't let me down atheists ... use some intellect ...
2006-08-21 02:13:19 · update #3
re:icarus62 ... really really good addressing here ... but the labelling of it as "irrational" has no tangibility to it ... you are conceding we are "hardwired to have some religious experiences" .. more or less .. and reparaphrase if you like .. but saying it is "irrational" is entirely a value judgement on your part ... thankyou though ..
2006-08-21 02:18:11 · update #4
re:Thomas S .. interesting thoughts .. and partly parallel to some of my own contemplations .. yet still quite peripheral to the "hardwiring" I am trying to review here though .. thankyou though ..
2006-08-21 02:21:58 · update #5
Yoda Green .. I think reading all gets across my territory ... but, to clarify .. someone else here once asked ,"What would happen if man didn't make religion? ".. I hold it is not possible, due to the reasons beneath ..
2006-08-21 02:24:24 · update #6
re ted nardo .. well .. ok ... lol ... "intelligunt desine" .. yeah .. I get you
2006-08-21 02:26:28 · update #7
g-spots ... neorologists might have a semantic also ...
2006-08-21 02:29:36 · update #8
re:jd .. hmm .. getting fine stuff .. but actually looking someone seeing this ... "evoluttion" has somehow embedded "spirituality" into us ( or a part of us) ... I totally agree with the pragmatism of your colsing sentence jd ...
2006-08-21 02:41:09 · update #9
coonrapper .. cool answer .. just so you know .. I'm not suggesting hierarchies .. just exchanging ideas .. okay "Sheena" just soapboxing without time to read the whole I guess .. oh well
2006-08-21 03:04:02 · update #10
Jaded Ruby .. excellent answer .. TY ... they limit our letters .. lol .."Evolution" is my semantic bait to the audience I want responses from, here ..
2006-08-21 03:06:44 · update #11
Too big a question for Answers...
To mess with Descartes:
We think therefore we think we are above the laws of nature
We grasp any belief system we need to get around the paradox that the more we think about beliefs the more we need to find one we accept...
Our brains have evolved thought, but as yet, not how to control it or evben understand it...as clever as we are we seem too clever to accept (even subconcously) that this one life is it for us..dust to dust as they say...we search in the back of our minds for anything that will confirm that we are indeed preternatural, certain belief systems suit one person, other suit others...
We are (evolutionarily-speaking) children, our intelligent minds (this includes the theurgic parts) our are the new toys we have not yet deciphered the instructions on how to use, so we are trying to make them work via trial and error...belief systems are one such tool to make sense of the one ultimate truth: we die, it ends...
All of our mindsets start with this fundemental process at their centre: We go out looking for an answer with an assumption already there, this skews our answers before we even find them....Heisenberg's uncertainty principle pops into my mind as being analogous in this respect...
2006-08-21 03:24:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So instead of "religion" when societies got bigger the government would have used more force to control the people rather than give the priest your 10% or the sun won't come out and we'll all starve. What would happen then? Disaster of the last 6000 years. People would have been ruled by an iron fist, rather than live the lie that is religion.
Perhaps more informal groups would get together, connected by the love put there in our hearts and souls from . . supreme being.
We all know we are individual and unique. Many of us believe the force that brought us about is random. Could have been any other sperm, or species that evolved. Why am I here? Forces of nature, poetic forces that "I" came about.
Indeed, its not how the soul got here, but what I do with it. And I fear not the outcome of my death, I can't control it.
What I can control is right here and right now.
2006-08-21 02:32:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all evolution is "theory" as well. While I don't subscribe to the idea that a spiritual center of the brain developed over thousands od years...there is certainly evidence that there is a part of the brain that processes and almost searches for this type of stimulus. One could logically argue that because that center of the brain exists..(and always has if ancient relics are to be believed) there is a reason. Is the reason survival, or is it proof of something more? Why else would we have dopamine receptors? It's to handle...dopamine.
2006-08-21 03:02:29 · answer #3 · answered by Jaded Ruby 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK let me toss this into the mix...
it seems to be the tendency of most western minds ( meaning those who create a creator) to consider that this creator is a separate entity from its creation.
Lets consider for a moment that that which created is also one and the same as what it created. That there is no separation and that all of reality is just one thing.
Would that concept answer anybodies questions as far as "where is the proof?" and "what was the intent?"
Would that provide any insights into the theory of "hard-wiring" as you indicate above?
I know that I'm answering questions with questions but sometimes that's all there is, more questions
Bob
2006-08-21 03:24:05 · answer #4 · answered by fra_bob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't mind a Christian perspective? There's a spot in the brain that scientist have referred to as the "God Spot". I think that's what you might be referring to here. We are all born with an inner knowledge of God. Devoid of any outside influences, we would make symbols and idols as a way to get close to our belief in a superior being. It's a natural tendency to look from without of ones self for enlightenment.
Atheist and Agnostics have their idols; money, big jobs, fancy cars. Anything that you worship more than God is an idol. Fortunately for Christians, God gave us His Bible, so we would know the truth.
2006-08-21 02:22:12 · answer #5 · answered by ted.nardo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're right to point out that there seems to be a particular part of the brain which is responsible for the illusion of religious or spiritual experiences, but hopefully we can help most people to be rational *despite* that. Being rational is something that has to be nurtured and encouraged, for most people, it doesn't come easily, which is why we need a good educational system and why those who want to promote religion want to keep people ignorant and gullible.
2006-08-21 02:13:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Therefore I'm not using Logic and reason for my non-belief, I'm somehow suppressing a function of my brain that would lead me to a god belief and a religion, or is it possible this part of my brain isn't wired correctly.....interesting concept. So I conclude that I'm not to blame either way. Oh but now I'm aware, I can't use that excuse. So I guess I'll stick with the plan.
2006-08-21 02:53:12 · answer #7 · answered by coonrapper 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing, life would have continued perhaps without so many wars. The animals seem to have done all right without attending any type of religious services. The dragonfly and the cockroach don't look like they are going anywhere to quick so why do you think humans are any better or worse. Humans tend to overstate their importance to justify all the ridiculous things they have done since they started communicating. Perhaps we tend to think of ourselves as gods when it comes to the rest of the species that share this planet with us. It seems they are smarter then us, they will wait it out, we will soon vanish. The insects will just eat our remains and the planet will begin to replenish itself. I think that’s a happy ending.
2006-08-21 02:18:40 · answer #8 · answered by Thomas S 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you mean; what would have happened if religion hadn't been invented?
Or; what would happen if humanity, as a whole, finally evolved to the point where NO one needed the intellectual crutch that is religion?
Because the two are very different.
2006-08-21 02:20:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there is no religion... there is ALWAYS politics, its about the same control over the masses, power and status. Religion is not about God its about who gets to be top dog. Politics is not about people, its about who gets to be the top cat.
2006-08-21 02:53:18 · answer #10 · answered by Sheena 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋