Humans' brains hardwired for faith--what do you think?

Question

I love the opinions "collected" by the Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/63862

But what is yours?

Answer 1

We are hardwired to fill the gaps. We fear the unknown (survival mechanism), so we try to fill the gaps in our knowledge. The supernatural is often the easier answer, though we are obviously replacing more and more of those supernatural answers with natural scientific ones.

Answer 2

I think that is a pretty widely discredited idea.

Its biggest hole is that religion confers no evolutionary advantage so could not arise as suggested as an innate brain function. In fact, religion can be a real disadvantage.

Far moreconvincing is the idea that it is an undesired side effect. We are social animals and need to be bound by "social glue", we need to make snap decisions about our world so we tend to "personalise" the inanimate ("I get a spooky feeling here" often rightly reflects a sense of real risk), and children need to learn a lot quickly by trust from their parents to survive the world. And all of these traits have good sides, but an undesired side effect pf in group/out group hostility, fanciful explanations and dogma passed by trust - the hallmarks of religion.

Answer 3

Seriously, I think there is truth to it. I've read some very interesting articles on how the tendency towards belief in deities might have evolved in humans. Kind of a by-product of our deference to authority (important for living in social groups) and the way our minds search for connections between things and events (useful for seeking answers to difficult problems but kind of goes awry by seeing causality in loosely correlated events).

So it is part of our nature, but can be overcome just like cannibalism.

Answer 4

The brain is hard-wired for "Dual" perception. On this premise, faith is also faithlessness. To have faith is a scary proposition because it is a statement of unknowing. People with faith will be tested in the end, with the concept of," What if what I had faith in is not so? Faith has to develop beyond itself into the realm of "Knowing."

Answer 5

Human brains are hardwired to jump to conclusions.

Faith is a consequence.

Answer 6

Mans mind is multi-directional.
If man takes the time to still the mind and bring it to a state of peaceful rest, it will start to become one pointed. This is the state within man when "Wisdom", develops and allows
man to make correct choices. Choices that are good, not only for himself (or herself), but for all those born as human beings.
Quiet the mind and see for yourself.

"Peace be with you"

Answer 7

I think since our brains were created by God, that would make a lot of sense.
According to the Bible (and indigenous tribes around the world) we all are aware of a Creator and the spirit realm.

Romans 1:19 "because that which was known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them."

Answer 8

Nope. We're trained to have "faith." Remember, the infant mind cannot even conceive that the world round it exists unless they are looking at it or interacting with it. It ceases to exist when they close their eyes or turn around.

Answer 9

Yes, but that should not suggest that anyone faith is meant to be believed in. Just that we have a spiritual side to express.

Answer 10

I would conclude the opposite.

Adam and Eve's sin was an act of faithlessness.

Mankind is now learning the lesson of what it is like to not live by faith.


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