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Is it natural to be "religious" or believe in god?
- Thread starter savethedreams
- Start date
Inthedark
Member
The price to pay for self awareness is a need to find meaning in our existence and a perception that there is a distinction between mind and brain. This perception leads us to believe that we are a duality, body and soul if you like. I think this is what drives us to be "spiritual" and to seek God, whatever that might be to each of us. Maybe 
ManTimeForgot
Temporally Challenged
Which is a roundabout way of saying that the cognitive biases and social pressures that lead to religion's formation are found everywhere on earth, but that we don't possess a specific impetus or instinct responsible for religion's formation.
We see faces in the clouds because our facial recognition algorithm and brain structures are so specialized that we get false positives (oversensitivity).
We see intelligence or design where little or non exists because our pattern recognition algorithm and brain structures are so specialized that again we get false positives.
Humans need companionship and instinctively try to create communities, but our instincts don't have a selection mechanism for recognizing false fellowship (con artists are just as effective at leadership as actual leaders are).
So while it might not be said that "religion is natural," it is also fairly difficult to conceive of a way in which humans could not end up with religion. All one needs to do to see evidence of this is that you find religion of some sort in even the most socially and physically isolated regions on earth (Tasmania for instance; which suffered from a complete lack of human contact for thousands of years).
MTF
FlyingTeaPot
Irrational Rationalist. Educated Fool.
It's not natural, the same way learning maths is not natural.
I think that it is natural for humans to question their existance.. and if this leads to belief in god by 'yourself' ie not someone coming up and telling you that a man in the sky made you, then yes belief in god in natural.
Ah but then someone else telling you that god is real is also natural, because you are all human beings and are all animals, and animals are natural. I heard an argument somewhere that anything that humans do ie destroying the planet, is natural because humans come from nature.
But then everything is natural, so what is unnatural?
I'm just confusing myself... heh.
ANYway, yes I believe that religion is natural, but I also believe that it is a byproduct of sentience. You don't see dogs chanting around fires to show love to their god, do you?
Ah but then someone else telling you that god is real is also natural, because you are all human beings and are all animals, and animals are natural. I heard an argument somewhere that anything that humans do ie destroying the planet, is natural because humans come from nature.
But then everything is natural, so what is unnatural?
I'm just confusing myself... heh.
ANYway, yes I believe that religion is natural, but I also believe that it is a byproduct of sentience. You don't see dogs chanting around fires to show love to their god, do you?
Whether it is natural probably depends on dna but I'm also sure that environment could be a factor in promoting it. I am not certain the god gene would be inclusive in all humans but perhaps a combination of other genes that give us our brain makeup.
Orias
Left Hand Path
That depends on what man naturally does.
Defines things, separates them, separates themselves, categorizes, limits.
Natural things are limited to imagination, and man is pretty well known for such things. Even those who accuse such aspects of promoting false concept, the latter often lacks any self promoting value itself.
Religion is natural because man is natural, supernatural is as natural as it gets. This is because of what we do not know, knowledge.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
IF it can only be taught, how did it originate?
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
Again, I ask the question:
I was answering the main question but, I would guess specific beliefs are man made like language and math. Taught though out your life.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
Not what I meant. If religion must be taught, who indoctrinated the first believer?
Who was the first one to learn the language, who was the first one to design numbers.
Why did there have to be a first one? Most probably children understood their parents actions and words a certain way. Once they found others that understood a similar way they grouped together(tribes). The practice was then passed down to their own children. I believe the first religions where by word of mouth. As we learned different things we modified the religions. Once enough people or important people believed the modifications new religions were born. Isn't that how all protestant religions broke away from the catholic church and even the catholics were originally jews.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
OK, I get what you mean now, but I still disagree with your original argument. You're talking about religion evolving, not being "imprinted."
Orias
Left Hand Path
From the building blocks and the science within us.
We create nothing, rather we compound what already is.
We are taught to walk, it is natural. Some of us teach ourselves.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
People do all sorts of crazy things frequently in a great number of different cultures.
