“We’ve evolved to be creationists†“We’ve evolved to be creationists†is a quote from the “The Atlantic Monthly†article “Is God an Accident?â€â€”December 2005 issue. Paul Bloom, author of the article, informs us that “human beings come into the world with a predisposition to believe in supernatural phenomena…this predisposition is an incidental by-product of cognitive functioning gone awryâ€. Paul Bloom informs us that nearly everyone on earth believes in miracles, afterlife, and the creation of the earth by some supernatural power. While doing research into infant behavior, psychologists have recently discovered that humans are born with a predisposition to believe in some supernatural actuality. These scientists conclude that this predisposition is a random happenstance of cognitive functioning gone awry. These conclusions led to the question “Is God an Accident?â€--the title of the article. I have just found the answer to a question that has baffled me for years. Why do non-believers love to talk religion? Perhaps talking about religion is much like ‘whistling past the cemetery’. Everyone loves to talk religion because we are all born with the “gut feeling†that there is a body/mind duality. Because we “feel†that mind is a “spiritual†entity we easily accommodate heaven, soul, god etc. Science says that this gut feeling is a result of “cognitive functioning gone awry†and religion tells us that this is a matter of faith. What do you think?
We definately do more thinking and reasoning than any other species on our planet and in the known universe. Therefore I 100% agree with science. With our magnificent intellectual capacity, it's inevitable that there are going to be by-products that come with it and cause us problems.
If He would do that in this world, then you and I wouldn't have to talk about His existence. And this world won't be a test any longer. So, He will compensate them in the next world.
You talk about this world as though its like waiting at a bus stop. The only test we all have is to understand that religion is a product of our intelligence and that the only life we live is right here and right now. Some people need to grasp the concept of reality before they become blind to the insanity they live in.
How convenient. Of course, The fact that there are people who claim to have seen him and claim he has cured their cancer kinda blows the "test" theory right out of the water. It can't be much of a test if he is already curing cancer and appearing to people. Or is he only testing amputees? yeah, That must be it.. After all, It's really the only option left.
Religious people are arrogant; they think that because they have a faith in something that it is correct - that just doesn't hold any water; I can convince myself thoroughly that a glass of milk can fly, I can even be hypnotized into believing that the glass can fly, all the while, the class cannot fly, all the while religion is incorrect. I will not concede that this solar system or any part ( don't be cocky and say what about houses ) of it is here because of any sort of being, it is a primitive and quite ridiculous way to think.
When written history began five thousand years ago humans had already developed a great deal of knowledge. Much of that knowledge was of a very practical nature such as how to use animal skins for clothing, how to weave wool, how to hunt and fish etc. A large part of human knowledge was directed toward how to kill and torture fellow humans. I guess things never really change all that much. In several parts of the world civilizations developed wherein people learned to create laws and to rule vast numbers of people. Some measure of peace and stability developed but there was yet no means for securing the people from their rulers. I guess things never really change all that much Almost everywhere priests joined rulers in attempts to control the population. Despite these continual wars both of external and internal nature the human population managed to flourish. Egypt was probably one of the first long lasting and stable civilizations to grow up along the large rivers. Egypt survived almost unchanged for three thousand years. This success is attributed to its geographical location that gave it freedom from competition and fertile lands that were constantly replenished by the river overflowing its banks and thus depositing new fertile soil for farming. Western philosophy emerged in the sixth century BC along the Ionian coast. A small group of scientist-philosophers began writing about their attempts to develop “rational†accounts regarding human experience. These early Pre-Socratic thinkers thought that they were dealing with fundamental elements of nature. It is natural for humans to seek knowledge. In the “Metaphysics†Aristotle wrote “All men by nature desire to knowâ€. The attempt to seek knowledge presupposes that the world unfolds in a systematic pattern and that we can gain knowledge of that unfolding. Cognitive science identifies several ideas that seem to come naturally to us and labels such ideas as “Folk Theoriesâ€. The Folk Theory of the Intelligibility of the World The world makes systematic sense, and we can gain knowledge of it. The Folk Theory of General Kinds Every particular thing is a kind of thing. The Folk Theory of Essences Every entity has an “essence†or “nature,†that is, a collection of properties that makes it the kind of thing it is and that is the causal source of its natural behavior. The consequences of the two theories of kinds and essences is: The Foundational Assumption of Metaphysics Kinds exist and are defined by essences. We may not want our friends to know this fact but we are all metaphysicians. We, in fact, assume that things have a nature thereby we are led by the metaphysical impulse to seek knowledge at various levels of reality. Cognitive science has uncovered these ideas they have labeled as Folk Theories. Such theories when compared to sophisticated philosophical theories are like comparing mountain music with classical music. Such theories seem to come naturally to human consciousness. The information comes primarily from “Philosophy in the Flesh†and http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/302/folkmeta.htm
Settle Gretel. It was in reference to the amputation and it was meant as a joke. Lighten up will ya?? Have you had that cup of tea yet? Col
It's hard to know when the religious are joking... Ever since i had a conversation like this; Guy: "There is a god" Me: "hahaha, That is hilarious...." Guy: "What? I'm serious."
I'm more of a coffee kinda guy... But don't tell the mormons, Apparently thier god doesn't like coffee.
No good god would make beings just to test them. By that line of thought we are his lab experiment - or worse - his reality TV show.