Is God an accident of our neurobiology?

[formermormon]

There is a great article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the neurobiology of belief in the supernatural. I'm not sure if non-subscribers can read it, but here is the link:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200512/god-accident

[peter_mary]

There is a great article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the neurobiology of belief in the supernatural. I'm not sure if non-subscribers can read it, but here is the link:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200512/god-accident
Nope...you have to subscribe. Any chance you could past the text into a post? It looks very interesting, and appears consistent with the reading I've done along these same lines.

[formermormon]

Well, I don't think I can LEGALLY post it. It is the current issue though, so it should be on news-stands.

[peter_mary]

Well, I don't think I can LEGALLY post it. It is the current issue though, so it should be on news-stands.
Oh, right. The whole "copyright thing." Forgot about that.

Nope, don't need Silverfox or Jeff going to jail or anything. I'll try to find a time to sit in Barnes & Noble and read it.

Thanks anyhoo!

[formermormon]

PM -

It'll totally be worth it - it's a fascinating article. Actually, the whole issue is full of great writing. It might even be worth BUYING the thing. Just a thought.

[helemon]

There is a great article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the neurobiology of belief in the supernatural. I'm not sure if non-subscribers can read it, but here is the link:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200512/god-accident

I wouldn't call God an accident. God(s) are merely a product of humanities very powerful drive and ability to try and explain the world around them. The various religions of mankind's are simply competing theories about how people are supposed to have come to be, how they should live, and who or what is ultimately in charge of everything.

Religion and a belief in God are no more of an "accident" than are other more scientific theories about life, the universe, and everything that have been proposed by others. The trouble with religious theories however, is that they are nearly impossible to disprove. This is both a strength that allows them to trap the mind of the believer in an unfalsifiable construct, thus ensuring the survival of the belief system, and their greatest weakness in that they are slow to change and evolve without the occurrence of often bloody and violent revolts.

Religions have also served an important role by providing a unifying social construct to help facilitate societal organization and behavior around a common belief and set of ethics. The ability to rally people around a common goal or belief that the various religions embodied also helped to fund early advances in human knowledge in architecture, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, agriculture, art, and many other areas of human endeavor.

While it is easy to dismiss religion as bunk, the product of charlatans and scoundrels, and to bemoan the pain that it causes in its attempt to bring peace, we must also reflect on how much it has contributed to the civilization of humanity. Religion is not an accident; it is a reflection of the innate and universal hopes and fears of humanity in all of its glory and horror.

[formermormon]

Actually, if you read the article, it talks about how our brains are evolved to accept dualism. From a very early age, we have separate cognitive "programs" for evaluating the physical world and our emotional/social world. We see "ourselves" as being different from our bodies. This is grounded in our neural circuitry, but it leads us into the concept of a "soul" as distinct from a body - and into the idea of the possibility of bodyless beings.

It's basically a biochemical explanation for the development of religion in the human psyche. Why our brains are predisposed to create God(s).

[peter_mary]

Perhaps "accident" is more catchy than it is accurate. I would offer that perhaps God is a "by-product" of our neurobiology.

A parallel that I like to think of in this regard is our appreciation for music. Clearly there is no evolutionary need for music appreciation. It doesn't actually help us breed better (despite the huge market for make-out songs ;) ), and those who sing better or dance better don't pass their genes along at better rates than those who don't.

But because our brains evolved to understand language, breaking sounds up into bits and processing them, and because we ARE sensitive to rhythms, and those that pay attention to repeating patterns in their world do have a higher probability of success, and probably a whole bunch of other neurological systems, we ALSO stumbled upon music.

So now we are cursed with American Idol and Justin Timberlake, not because we NEED them, but because of the by-product in our wiring that helps our synapses line up and feel good to the groove of good music. Sometimes that can be so powerful that it evokes an honest to goodness emotional response of physical "thrill," but there is nothing inherently "necessary" about music. It just happened.

And that's how I figure God happened, too! Check out Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer.

[dogzilla]

I'm going to have to raise an objection to using "Justin Timberlake" and "good music" in the same sentence. Otherwise... I think you're on to something!

:D

[peter_mary]

I'm going to have to raise an objection to using "Justin Timberlake" and "good music" in the same sentence. Otherwise... I think you're on to something!

:D
I DID start that sentence out with, "So now we are cursed with...Justin Timberlake..." 'cause, yeah...no good music coming out of any of those orofices... :D

[dogzilla]

I DID start that sentence out with, "So now we are cursed with...Justin Timberlake..." 'cause, yeah...no good music coming out of any of those orofices... :D


:duh

My bad.

:: goes back to review Reading Comprehension 101 ::

[helemon]

Perhaps "accident" is more catchy than it is accurate. I would offer that perhaps God is a "by-product" of our neurobiology.

A parallel that I like to think of in this regard is our appreciation for music. Clearly there is no evolutionary need for music appreciation. It doesn't actually help us breed better (despite the huge market for make-out songs ;) ), and those who sing better or dance better don't pass their genes along at better rates than those who don't.

But because our brains evolved to understand language, breaking sounds up into bits and processing them, and because we ARE sensitive to rhythms, and those that pay attention to repeating patterns in their world do have a higher probability of success, and probably a whole bunch of other neurological systems, we ALSO stumbled upon music.

So now we are cursed with American Idol and Justin Timberlake, not because we NEED them, but because of the by-product in our wiring that helps our synapses line up and feel good to the groove of good music. Sometimes that can be so powerful that it evokes an honest to goodness emotional response of physical "thrill," but there is nothing inherently "necessary" about music. It just happened.

And that's how I figure God happened, too! Check out Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer.

Hmmm, just a bit of speculation here but dancing demonstrates a persons physical fitness, coordination, nimbleness, ability to remember long sequences of choreographed movement, and the ability to move in coordination with and response to others. All of these things are equally important skills and abilities for hunting for men. For women these abilities may have also demonstrated physical fitnesses and coordination that is important for the traditional womanly roles as well.

Music especially drums can travel over greater distances than the normal human voice. Therefore, we may have developed music as a method of communication with other tribes. Music, and especially a drum beat helps to keep a group of individuals moving at a consistent and coordinated pace as demonstrated by the use of the drum on ancient rowing ships and at the head of marching armies.

Low notes seem to evoke a sense of dread and unease. Natural catastrophes like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and stampeding herd of animals make deep rumbling sounds. High trills tend to evoke pleasant feelings, which may be due to the high pitched chirps of birds which indicate that spring is coming as well as the fact that birds tend to scatter quickly at the approach of a predator, the sound of chirping birds and thus the sound of lilting music may evoke pleasant feelings.

So perhaps the way music effects us is tied into survival mechanisms?

[helemon]

Actually, if you read the article, it talks about how our brains are evolved to accept dualism. From a very early age, we have separate cognitive "programs" for evaluating the physical world and our emotional/social world. We see "ourselves" as being different from our bodies. This is grounded in our neural circuitry, but it leads us into the concept of a "soul" as distinct from a body - and into the idea of the possibility of bodyless beings.

It's basically a biochemical explanation for the development of religion in the human psyche. Why our brains are predisposed to create God(s).

Hmm, but our emotional and social world have a profound impact on how we evaluate the physical world. The first monks who saw paramecium in a drop of water thought they were demons. Similarly, up until very modern times, most mental illness was beleived to be of supernatural origin. Earliest man saw gods and
demigods in everything around him.

I think we see ourselves as different from our bodies because our minds foremost goal is survival, so when faced with evidence of its mortality, which is beyond its ability to control, it dissociates itself from the decay of the flesh in order to achieve its desired goal of immortality.

I also think that the fact that the human brain dreams and can become intoxicated by various consciousness altering substances creates a sense of the possibility of alternate realities beyond that which is experienced by the physical senses.

[lunaverse]

I also think that the fact that the human brain dreams and can become intoxicated by various consciousness altering substances creates a sense of the possibility of alternate realities beyond that which is experienced by the physical senses.

Good point. There's no mistake, for example, that mushrooms are associated with faeries, and that they call them "Faerie rings"...

Luna