Hey! Just thought of something... There have been many studies regarding the intelligence of other...?

Question

... intelligent animals other than humans. This includes primates and dolphins, etc.

Does anyone know of ANY study that has attempted to determine if these creatures have a concept of God? I'm not an animal behaviorist so I don't know what a study like that would look like but... anyone?

If not, can anyone come up with an experiment that could test the hypothesis that these animals have a concept of God?

BTW, I mean "God" VERY loosely... not necessarily an omni-X being and certainly not one necessarily associated with any particular human belief. (and it could be "gods")

Also, don't dismiss the idea out of hand. Some animals have been shown to have incredible intelligence, use tools, have a Theory of Mind (look it up), etc. If we, as sentient, intelligent beings can have a concept of a divine being, why not them?

Not sure how you could test it though...

Lipsiot, I don't know (see above where I stated this twice LOL) but perhaps through their cultural behavior, maybe if they have any "rituals", perhaps drawings (I read somewhere that some primates draw in the wild)

Answer 1

As "God" is an intangible concept, the animals would need to be able to communicate with us to express a belief system.

How would you test if another human has a belief in God without using language to communicate with them ?

Answer 2

No... but there HAVE been about 40 studies, conducted over the past 80 years, that reveal a statistically significant INVERSE correlation between intelligence and religiosity. In plainer language, they found that the more intelligent a person is, the LESS likely he is to be religious.

We're not entitled to conclude causality from these data, but there are three possibilities:

1. Considering religion important lowers measured IQ (unlikely, since IQ is substantially genetic whereas belief is not).

2. The causality is via other factors not considered, such as socio-economic conditions, cultural history, or physical environment (definitely possible).

3. Having a higher measured IQ lowers your likelihood of considering religion important (most likely).

If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Intelligence tests mainly provide an indication of reasoning ability and problem solving ability... critical thought. These are the very qualities that see through religion, and recognize it for what it is; i.e., religion cannot survive the glaring light of reason and critical thought. This was well understood by important figures in religious history. This is why the early church destroyed all the writings that were in conflict with dogma, such as Greek philosophical, medical and mathematical knowledge... all the good stuff... which led directly to the Dark Ages.

Just to illustrate the point, here's what Martin Luther, the 'father' of protestantism, had to say about it:

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther

"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason... Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed." ~ Martin Luther

"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." ~ Martin Luther

Interestingly, statistics on supernatural beliefs count the USA on a par with backward, developing Third World nations, rather than among modern, advanced industrial powers.

"Selling eternal life is an unbeatable business, with no customers ever asking for their money back after the goods are not delivered." ~ Victor J. Stenger

"Businesses may come and go, but religion will last forever, for in no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure."  ~ Harvard Lampoon, "Doon" (paraphrase)

Answer 3

Dogs and horses seem to behave as if their human masters were their gods. I'm told dolphins are also very affectionate and devoted to their handlers, but I don't know whether that is at all worshipful.

But you are right in one thing; seems impossible to test at this stage of our development. If we ever get to where we understand another animal's communication systems (dolphins again the most hopeful candidate), will we project our concepts onto that language, and so still be ignorant of how they really think?

I am reminded of old jokes about everything an archaeologist digs up being considered a religious article. There was a great satire some years back about the "porcelain libation bowl" like the one you have in your WC!