The irrational belief in miracles

[SkylarHunter]

Humans are rational. We like to analyse, explain and criticize. It’s our nature and it’s great; without it we would still be living in cages and hunting for food. But it’s that rationality that makes it so hard for us to accept anything we can’t explain.
Those who believe that everything in the universe was made by a superior creator have to believe in miracles. And miracles are against our nature. Miracles can’t be analysed or explained and we, humans, don’t like to accept things we don’t understand.
I admit it does sound a bit far-fetched to believe in something I’ve never seen, to believe in the existence of a deity with so much power that he can do all sorts of things my rational brain can’t even begin to understand.
As an alternative to God humans came up with the concept of evolution (some also say we were brought here by aliens but since I can’t afford to join Scientology and even if I did I would still want to know who made the aliens let’s leave that out for the moment). Suddenly, the God that can’t be explained and whose existence can’t be proved is out of the picture, replaced by myriads of random events that originated everything we know. At first that really sounds much easier to believe than the irrational miracles.
So, one day, from non-life, cells started to be formed. In laboratories with ideal conditions no one was ever able to make cells from non-living matter but we were told this happened in nature, completely randomly. To me, that is nothing short of a miracle.
Somehow these cells that appeared miraculously out of the blue managed to survive, and not only they survived but also miraculously, they managed to evolve into organisms of an amazing complexity. Another miracle-like event that is also yet to be demonstrated in real life...
Time passed and these organisms continued to evolve. A bunch of cells randomly got together and little by little they became distinct species with unique amazing features, perfectly adapted to survive in whatever environment they existed. How did these species come up with their unique feature is another miracle-like event, given that no one made them but evolution seems to be so intelligent that one random thing after another ended up giving place to extremely complex life forms perfectly capable of surviving and reproducing.
But for me, one of the most amazing miracles of evolution is the fact that not only one specie continually gave origin to a completely different specie but they also came up male and female. As we know, most animals need a male and a female to reproduce. That means that at some point in time a male and a female of every kind of mammal evolved at the same time and in the same place so they were able to meet each other and have babies. Had anything, even a tiny detail gone wrong, these species would never have come to existence. Wow, talk about miracles.
I’ve heard a lot about genetic mutations and so on, but since so far all the genetic mutations I’ve seen have only originated disease and malformations I can’t in my rational mind, accept that random mutations created millions of males and females of all sorts of species that are perfectly in tune with their environment to the point of being able to survive some pretty harsh conditions and continue to reproduce. I don’t know about you but when I see too many coincidences I start seeing connections.
A lot of experiences have been conducted over the years but so far none of the events that are believed to have originated complex life forms has been successfully reproduced in a lab.
It is clear that species can change, all we have to do is look at ourselves: humans today exist in several sizes and colours, but we are still human. The same happens with all other species. For me, to believe that the complexity of life happened by nothing but chance is as far-fetched as hoping that a 8.9 earthquake is going to start cleaning and building instead of causing the usual destruction.
Evolution comes with a lot more questions than answers but I can understand why it’s so accepted. Many people think it’s easier to believe in it than in miracles performed by a superior being. As long as the millions of questions raised by evolution don’t have an answer and are not properly proved I’m going to continue believing that we are not here by chance and the universe was created with intelligence and purpose. If I have to be called crazy and irrational... I can live with that.

 

[Quirkybird]

Occasionally something unexpected will happen like somebody being cured of a dangerous illness, when all hope had been lost. Some will attribute it to the ever so 'loving' deity. Forgetting that most of the time it has it hearing aid switched off when pleas for its intervention are made! I think everything has a logical explanation even if science hasn't yet come up with it.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Humans are rational.

Logic, analysis, and most cognitive processes associated with rationality and reason are not only far from innate, but are typically counterintuitive and difficult to teach. I'm not a fan of evolutionary psychology, at least as far as the causal explanations for research findings, but experiments within that field as well as cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience have much improved our understanding of the ways in which humans are more irrational than rational and are prone to believing that they are rational based upon conclusions that are irrational/illogical. The research on this is vast, but there are some decent books for the non-specialist as well as some not too technical studies/monographs:

Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (1994).Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds. Wiley.

Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises

How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life

Gilovich, T., Griffin, D., & Kahneman, D. (Eds.). (2002). Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment. Cambridge University Press.

Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. HarperCollins.

Adaptive Rationality: An Evolutionary Perspective on Cognitive Bias

Bardone, E. (2011). Seeking chances: From biased rationality to distributed cognition (Vol. 13 of Cognitive Systems Monographs). Springer.

We like to analyse, explain and criticize.

We tend to find explanations that don't exist by seeing patterns that aren't their and attributing causation due to an interplay of cognitive, perceptual, and experiential biases.

without it we would still be living in cages and hunting for food

Humans have been around in their present form for tens of thousands of years. For almost all of that time, they have lived exactly as you describe. What logical conclusions might we deduce from this?

And miracles are against our nature.

Which explains how they are widely believed in every known culture how?

As we know, most animals need a male and a female to reproduce.

The vast majority don't.

I don’t know about you but when I see too many coincidences I start seeing connections.

That would hearken back to predictable irrationality and seeing patterns and causes where none exist.

As long as the millions of questions raised by evolution don’t have an answer and are not properly proved

1) We don't prove things outside of formal systems (mathematics/logic)
2) What "millions of questions"?

 

[Muffled]

Occasionally something unexpected will happen like somebody being cured of a dangerous illness, when all hope had been lost. Some will attribute it to the ever so 'loving' deity. Forgetting that most of the time it has it hearing aid switched off when pleas for its intervention are made! I think everything has a logical explanation even if science hasn't yet come up with it.

I believe it is quite logical that an all powerful God can heal and does.

 

[Quirkybird]

I believe it is quite logical that an all powerful God can heal and does.

Apart from the fact there isn't the slightest evidence this 'all powerful god' actually exists, it doesn't say much good about its personality if it is prepared to heal a small minority, but doesn't heal others!

 

[SkylarHunter]

I think everything has a logical explanation even if science hasn't yet come up with it.

If and when science comes up with a logical explanation for everything I'll be happy to review my opinion.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Humans are rational.

Rarely and selectively.

 

[McBell]

Humans are rational. We like to analyse, explain and criticize. It’s our nature and it’s great; without it we would still be living in cages and hunting for food. But it’s that rationality that makes it so hard for us to accept anything we can’t explain.
Those who believe that everything in the universe was made by a superior creator have to believe in miracles. And miracles are against our nature. Miracles can’t be analysed or explained and we, humans, don’t like to accept things we don’t understand.
I admit it does sound a bit far-fetched to believe in something I’ve never seen, to believe in the existence of a deity with so much power that he can do all sorts of things my rational brain can’t even begin to understand.
As an alternative to God humans came up with the concept of evolution (some also say we were brought here by aliens but since I can’t afford to join Scientology and even if I did I would still want to know who made the aliens let’s leave that out for the moment). Suddenly, the God that can’t be explained and whose existence can’t be proved is out of the picture, replaced by myriads of random events that originated everything we know. At first that really sounds much easier to believe than the irrational miracles.
So, one day, from non-life, cells started to be formed. In laboratories with ideal conditions no one was ever able to make cells from non-living matter but we were told this happened in nature, completely randomly. To me, that is nothing short of a miracle.
Somehow these cells that appeared miraculously out of the blue managed to survive, and not only they survived but also miraculously, they managed to evolve into organisms of an amazing complexity. Another miracle-like event that is also yet to be demonstrated in real life...
Time passed and these organisms continued to evolve. A bunch of cells randomly got together and little by little they became distinct species with unique amazing features, perfectly adapted to survive in whatever environment they existed. How did these species come up with their unique feature is another miracle-like event, given that no one made them but evolution seems to be so intelligent that one random thing after another ended up giving place to extremely complex life forms perfectly capable of surviving and reproducing.
But for me, one of the most amazing miracles of evolution is the fact that not only one specie continually gave origin to a completely different specie but they also came up male and female. As we know, most animals need a male and a female to reproduce. That means that at some point in time a male and a female of every kind of mammal evolved at the same time and in the same place so they were able to meet each other and have babies. Had anything, even a tiny detail gone wrong, these species would never have come to existence. Wow, talk about miracles.
I’ve heard a lot about genetic mutations and so on, but since so far all the genetic mutations I’ve seen have only originated disease and malformations I can’t in my rational mind, accept that random mutations created millions of males and females of all sorts of species that are perfectly in tune with their environment to the point of being able to survive some pretty harsh conditions and continue to reproduce. I don’t know about you but when I see too many coincidences I start seeing connections.
A lot of experiences have been conducted over the years but so far none of the events that are believed to have originated complex life forms has been successfully reproduced in a lab.
It is clear that species can change, all we have to do is look at ourselves: humans today exist in several sizes and colours, but we are still human. The same happens with all other species. For me, to believe that the complexity of life happened by nothing but chance is as far-fetched as hoping that a 8.9 earthquake is going to start cleaning and building instead of causing the usual destruction.
Evolution comes with a lot more questions than answers but I can understand why it’s so accepted. Many people think it’s easier to believe in it than in miracles performed by a superior being. As long as the millions of questions raised by evolution don’t have an answer and are not properly proved I’m going to continue believing that we are not here by chance and the universe was created with intelligence and purpose. If I have to be called crazy and irrational... I can live with that.

That has got to be the longest argument from incredulity I have seen in quite some time.

Cangrats!

 

[SkylarHunter]

2) What "millions of questions"?

Thanks for the links. I'll have a look.

As for the millions of questions, I'm not going to write everything I want to know but I'll give you a few examples. ´

- According to evolution the first cells appeared from inanimate chemicals. What was the process that made that happen? In order for a cell to survive DNA, RAN and proteins have to work together. What was the probability that these 3 elements formed by chance and at the same time so the cell would survive? With all the resources we have today, why haven't we been able to do it in a lab where we can create ideal conditions?

- 2 days after the are born the mandarin ducks jump from a very high three and follow their mother with confidence. Who programmed such little creatures to know they would be safe to jump from that high?

- The American house spider produces a web that when anchored to a wall is strong enough to trap flying prey, however, when attached to the ground the patches of silk are weaker, so they can be easily detached and yank off the ground any prey that walks into it. Who taught the spider to create these two different structures?

- Whales migrate thousands of miles every year, guided by sea currents. Who told them to follow the currents?

-Who taught the ant to store food in the summer so it would be available in winter?

- Using a brain the size of the tip of a ball point pen, the monarch butterfly migrates up to 3000km from Canada to a small patch of forest in Mexico. This butterfly relies on the sun to help it navigate. Who gave it that ability?

-When a woman is pregnant the exact moment the baby is to be born the brain triggers the labor process that is extremely complex. Without that trigger the baby would die in the womb. How can something that amazing have happened by chance?

-Evolution focuses a lot on developing tools to survive. We like music but we don't need it to survive. If it's not necessary why do we like music? Or any other form of entertainment for that matter?

-Love is also not a requirement for survival. We could reproduce just fine and go on with our lives, no feelings involved, and yet love is a very significant part of our life. Who designed us with the ability and need to love?

I could go on and on...

 

[McBell]

Thanks for the links. I'll have a look.

As for the millions of questions, I'm not going to write everything I want to know but I'll give you a few examples. ´

- According to evolution the first cells appeared from inanimate chemicals. What was the process that made that happen? In order for a cell to survive DNA, RAN and proteins have to work together. What was the probability that these 3 elements formed by chance and at the same time so the cell would survive? With all the resources we have today, why haven't we been able to do it in a lab where we can create ideal conditions?

- 2 days after the are born the mandarin ducks jump from a very high three and follow their mother with confidence. Who programmed such little creatures to know they would be safe to jump from that high?

- The American house spider produces a web that when anchored to a wall is strong enough to trap flying prey, however, when attached to the ground the patches of silk are weaker, so they can be easily detached and yank off the ground any prey that walks into it. Who taught the spider to create these two different structures?

- Whales migrate thousands of miles every year, guided by sea currents. Who told them to follow the currents?

-Who taught the ant to store food in the summer so it would be available in winter?

- Using a brain the size of the tip of a ball point pen, the monarch butterfly migrates up to 3000km from Canada to a small patch of forest in Mexico. This butterfly relies on the sun to help it navigate. Who gave it that ability?

-When a woman is pregnant the exact moment the baby is to be born the brain triggers the labor process that is extremely complex. Without that trigger the baby would die in the womb. How can something that amazing have happened by chance?

-Evolution focuses a lot on developing tools to survive. We like music but we don't need it to survive. If it's not necessary why do we like music? Or any other form of entertainment for that matter?

-Love is also not a requirement for survival. We could reproduce just fine and go on with our lives, no feelings involved, and yet love is a very significant part of our life. Who designed us with the ability and need to love?

I could go on and on...

Why do you assume there must be a who?

 

[Parsimony]

There is a difference between something that is a true miracle and simply "miracle-like". Presumably, a true miracle would be enacted by some agency beyond the laws of physics. If, on the other hand, something highly improbably happens but nonetheless is compatible with the laws of physics, it would not constitute a true miracle.

The idea that males and females had to evolve at the exact same time in a single jump is wrong anyway, as it can come about gradually: horizontal gene transfer between bacteria accomplishes about the same thing as sexual reproduction in terms of distributing genetic diversity throughout the population (even though bacteria have only one "sex"). Over time, I don't find it hard to imagine cells becoming increasingly specialized so that only one cell type (what one might call a "proto-male") donates genetic material to the other cell type (a "proto-female").

- According to evolution the first cells appeared from inanimate chemicals.

No, abiogenesis says that cells appeared from inanimate chemicals. A theistic evolutionist (yeah, you know, people who believe in both God and evolution) could just as easily propose that God created the first cell supernaturally and it evolved into what we see today.

 

[Iti oj]

I believe it is quite logical that an all powerful God can heal and does.

Tell that to the millions god allows to die a day.

 

[Objective Qualia]

Humans are rational.

No we are not innately rational. Look at children raised in the wild clearly not rational. Rationality is something we learn not something we are.

As an alternative to God humans came up with the concept of evolution

There were other natural explanations for the diversity of life before Darwinian evolution like Lamarkian evolution, Catastrophism etc. Evolution and Creationism weren't and aren't the only games in town so to speak.

So, one day, from non-life, cells started to be formed. In laboratories with ideal conditions no one was ever able to make cells from non-living matter but we were told this happened in nature, completely randomly. To me, that is nothing short of a miracle.

Considering that we are made of non-living matter, I don't see how this is a miracle. Also the first living organisms would be far simpler than even the most basic modern cell. Finally how life began isn't even addressed by evolution. All evolution explains is the diversity of life.

Somehow these cells that appeared miraculously out of the blue managed to survive, and not only they survived but also miraculously, they managed to evolve into organisms of an amazing complexity. Another miracle-like event that is also yet to be demonstrated in real life...

The miraculous event you're talking about took billions of years. It's not like the sun set on a single cell one day and the next it was a giraffe. Mutations passed from parent to offspring who had new mutations then passed those mutations to the next generation and so on. This slow process is why it took billions of years.

Time passed and these organisms continued to evolve. A bunch of cells randomly got together and little by little they became distinct species with unique amazing features, perfectly adapted to survive in whatever environment they existed. How did these species come up with their unique feature is another miracle-like event, given that no one made them but evolution seems to be so intelligent that one random thing after another ended up giving place to extremely complex life forms perfectly capable of surviving and reproducing.

You're abusing the word random in your post. Just because you can't or won't think of a reason single celled organisms would collect together doesn't mean there isn't one. Creatures that arrive in new environments don't have to be perfectly suited to them according to evolution. They just need to be well suited enough to breed.

But for me, one of the most amazing miracles of evolution is the fact that not only one specie continually gave origin to a completely different specie but they also came up male and female. As we know, most animals need a male and a female to reproduce. That means that at some point in time a male and a female of every kind of mammal evolved at the same time and in the same place so they were able to meet each other and have babies. Had anything, even a tiny detail gone wrong, these species would never have come to existence. Wow, talk about miracles.

Evolution is a slow process involving entire populations of organisms not single individuals. If you don't know that I would suggest reading what evolution actually is from a biologist.

I’ve heard a lot about genetic mutations and so on, but since so far all the genetic mutations I’ve seen have only originated disease and malformations

Some humans have a mutation that lets them tolerate dairy products better. There is also muscular hypertrophy, a mutation that greatly increases muscle mass. There is even a mutation that makes people immune to HIV. These were mutations only in humans I can't imagine the amount of beneficial mutation for animals

It is clear that species can change, all we have to do is look at ourselves: humans today exist in several sizes and colours, but we are still human. The same happens with all other species.

Speciation (one species evolving into another) has been observed both in the lab and in nature. Also speciation is the only explanation for the phenomenon of ring species.

For me, to believe that the complexity of life happened by nothing but chance is as far-fetched as hoping that a 8.9 earthquake is going to start cleaning and building instead of causing the usual destruction.
Evolution comes with a lot more questions than answers but I can understand why it’s so accepted. Many people think it’s easier to believe in it than in miracles performed by a superior being. As long as the millions of questions raised by evolution don’t have an answer and are not properly proved I’m going to continue believing that we are not here by chance and the universe was created with intelligence and purpose. If I have to be called crazy and irrational... I can live with that.

Evolution isn't just chance. If you asked to be allowed to apply evolutionary principles to a slot machine in a casino you'd be kicked out. You would keep all the good results and throw out the bad just like natural selection keeps beneficial traits and mutations in a population. You don't seem to understand what evolution is or what it says. Google "what is evolution" and you get a much better understanding of it. You don't have to agree with it but at least know what it actually is.

 

[George-ananda]

Great OP.

Here is what I think on the subject:

Life formed and developed on earth through the will of higher beings (gods/angels/nature-spirits/devas/whatevers). They worked with the elements of earth to create something grand we call physical life.

These beings are closer to the source (Brahman) than us and their intelligence is well beyond ours (but their intelligence is still limited).

I have heard a higher being channeled by someone I respect. It seems they were not fully satisfied with the results in the age of reptile domination. Then came mammals. And even that they were not satisfied with and it was thought that physical life on earth had reached its zenith. However, an Eve story came out. After thinking things had progressed as far as it could, a being noticed a small female ape-like creature clutching a dead baby to her breast and she emitted such a strong emotional vibration that was unlike anything seen before or conceived possible and encouraged higher beings to continue evolution along this line.

 

[psychoslice]

Tell that to the millions god allows to die a day.

Yep, soooo true.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I believe it is quite logical that an all powerful God can heal and does.

Except those with amputated limbs. He has a particular dislike for them.

 

[Quirkybird]

Some charlatans have claimed amputated limbs have grown back! I have also heard it claimed that people have risen from the dead in modern times! If a person is truly dead, including Jesus, resurrection isn't possible!

 

[SkylarHunter]

You don't seem to understand what evolution is or what it says. Google "what is evolution" and you get a much better understanding of it. You don't have to agree with it but at least know what it actually is.

I know exactly what evolution is and I've studied it a lot and I keep studying. I don't live under a rock.
The same way you chose not to believe in God because you haven't found enough evidence that he exists I chose to not believe in evolution because I don't find enough evidence to back it up. The reason why I don't believe in evolution is the amount of coincidences that would have to turn up exactly right for us to have gone from nothing to everything that exists today.
If one day science finds the answers to my questions and I see that I was wrong I will be the first to admit it and change my mind.
If I'm right and God exists, one day he will make the necessary changes and fix the mess this world became, like the bible says. If I'm wrong and we're on our own we're looking at a very hard future, full of natural disasters and famine given the increase in population and the fact that we're already consuming more than the earth can replace. Either way, life as we know it is about to change a lot.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

but I'll give you a few examples.

Thank you.

According to evolution the first cells appeared from inanimate chemicals

Not according to evolution. Biological evolution cannot exist without living systems, so evolutionary theory doesn't involve the origins of life.

What was the process that made that happen?

Although some things are known about this, you are quite right that it remains an unanswered question (for material on what is known and what is hypothesized see e.g., Rauchfuss, H. (2008). Chemical evolution and the origin of life. Springer; Seckbach, J. (Ed.). (2012). Genesis-in the Beginning: Precursors of Life, Chemical Models and Early Biological Evolution (Vol. 22 of Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology). Springer; Popa, R. (2007). Between Necessity & Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life (Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics) Springer; Gargaud, M., López-Garcìa, P., & Martin, H. (Eds.). (2011). Origins and Evolution of Life: An Astrobiological Perspective (Vol. 6 of Cambridge Astrobiology). Cambridge University Press)

What was the probability

In order to know the probability of anything, you must know the probability space. For example, we know the chances of picking an ace out of a deck of cards because we know precisely how many cards they are and of what type.

When stalactites & diamonds form the processes involved in these formations (and the processes that define their evolution from one state to another) are beyond our ability to predict. These are self-organizing systems and while almost always know at least most of the possible final configuration states we also are almost always unable to predict which of these are possible given any formation or transition from some configurational state to another. And, in certain cases, a particular transition or formation is astronomically improbable.

However, it is improbable in a very specific way. To illustrate, imagine flipping a coin trillion times. The resulting sequence, whatever it is, is one in a trillion. However, the probability that you will get a result is 1.

The problem with using the complexity of living systems in tandem with arguments as to their probability is that the processes involved in such systems relieve us of the ability to know what the probability that such systems would emerge is.

why haven't we been able to do it

"The most fundamental question that one might be expected to answer is ‘‘why are there solids?’’ That is, if we were given a large number of atoms of copper, why should they form themselves into the regular array that we know as a crystal of metallic copper? Why should they not form an irregular structure like glass, or a superfluid liquid like helium?
We are ill-equipped to answer these questions in any other than a qualitative way, for they demand the solution of the many-body problem in one of its most difficult forms. We should have to consider the interactions between large numbers of identical copper nuclei – identical, that is, if we were fortunate enough to have an isotopically pure specimen – and even larger numbers of electrons. We should be able to omit neither the spins of the electrons nor the electric quadrupole moments of the nuclei. Provided we treated the problem with the methods of relativistic quantum mechanics, we could hope that the solution we obtained would be a good picture of the physical reality, and that we should then be able to predict all the properties of copper.
But, of course, such a task is impossible"

Taylor, P. L., & Heinonen, O. (2002). A quantum approach to condensed matter physics. Cambridge University Press.

When we cannot answer a question such as "why are their solids?" why should we expect to have reproduced the processes whereby life originated?

Who programmed such little creatures

"The athermal nature of granular media implies in turn that granular configurations cannot relax spontaneously in the absence of external perturbations. This leads typically to the generation of a large number of metastable configurations; it also results in hysteresis, since the sandpile carries forward a memory of its initial conditions"
Mehta, A. (2007). Granular physics. Cambridge University Press.

Note the use of the word "memory" to describe not only a system without neurons but without life. Complex systems involve processes such as self-organization, emergence, etc. If we do not know how a bunch of sand forms into a particular state given a particular prior state and known external processes causing the transition from one state to the other, what makes it so unusual that we do not know how the details of innate knowledge?

Learning is vastly more complicated than instinct, yet we know more about the mechanisms through which it works. One reason is because systems capable of learning are capable of being tested in the ways that they do learn, don't learn, forget, make mistakes, etc. Instinctive knowledge is not so testable a property.

Who taught the spider to create these two different structures?

Lots of dead spiders. Most of the processes involved in evolution revolve around death, disease, fatal or disabling disorders, even mass extinctions. The evolution of geochemical structures does, in this sense, resemble what "teaches" the spider. External forces create instabilities, disorder, reactions, etc., that result in changes. We don't typically talk about changes in rock formations using words like "death", but the ways in which genetic variations and environmental changes kill off living systems that are not "fit" leaving behind those that possess traits (adaptions) which maximize fitness for any given environment resemble those processes involved in avalanches, volcanoes, mountains, etc.

Flux means variation, and any physical system with internal dynamics (simplistically, "moving parts", as opposed to e.g., an electron) will change due to external factors. For living systems, environments and environmental changes kill off living systems like spiders if genetic variations do not allow for necessary levels of "fitness". Spiders of all kinds form webs, build traps, use venom, etc., to survive because spiders that were unable to do so died.

Who taught the ant

Individual ants do not know to do this:

"Even in quite large numbers army ants may demonstrate behavior that is essentially aberrant. For example, if 100 army ants are placed on a flat surface, they will walk around in never decreasing circles until they die of exhaustion. In extremely high numbers, however, it is a different story. A colony of 500,000 Eciton army ants can form a nest of their own bodies that will regulate temperature accurately within limits of plus or minus 10 C. In a single day, the colony can raid 200 m through the dim depths of the tropical rain forest, all the while maintaining a steady compass bearing. The ants can form super-efficient teams for the purpose of transporting large items of prey."
Franks, N. R. (1989). Army ants: a collective intelligence. American Scientist, 77, 138-145.

Who gave it that ability?

One of the ways in which humans, as cognitive systems, are nothing compared to the computers we can build when it comes to analysis and logic is attribution of causality. It is akin to pattern recognition. One reason we are so terrible when it comes to assessing probability or recognizing randomness is because we are extremely proficient at abstracting away from specifics. This is absolutely essential for basic conceptual processing. My dog is vastly superior to my computer at pattern recognition because she can abstract away from specific examples of "food" and somehow pair something never before presented with "food" if it is edible.

The reason computers are so excellent at precise, logical results is because they are utterly incapable of abstracting away from specific to understand anything. Like most living systems, they are only capable of purely reactionary learning. They cannot internally represent concepts like "food" that is abstracted away from any particular instantiation of food.

Just like the ways in which humans constantly see patterns where none exist, so do they attribute (or search for) cause where none need be. Worse still, we pair "patterns" we have abstracted from with others we deem similar. Put simply, because we build things like computers, cars, buildings, etc., and associate with these abstractions the abstract notion "design", when we see organization in nature we think of it in terms of design. This is perceptual and cognitive bias (an irrational property of human cognition).

Love is also not a requirement for survival.

1) Evolution isn't about traits required for survival but a subset of traits of any living system that have allowed it to survive (more precisely, that allow it's type to pass one genes).
2) Most people don't have sex with the intention of having children. The only reason for sex is reproduction. Evolutionary adaptions like desire for sex are not equivalent with what makes them adaptive.

yet love is a very significant part of our life.

Pregnancy limits the ability of women to function (not today really, but evolutionary traits we have now came from conditions long, long ago). Human offspring require years and years of care before they are able to sustain themselves. Ergo, mechanisms which keep families, tribes, etc., together greatly increase our chances of passing on genes. Love is such a mechanism.

 

[SkylarHunter]

Except those with amputated limbs. He has a particular dislike for them.

Unfortunately a lot of christian religions managed to pass a horrible image of God by doing the exact opposite to what the bible says. That made people start seeing God as cruel, which is not the case.
The Bible says that in the Garden of Eden God's right to rule humans was challenged. In Genesis 3:2-5 Satan tells Eve that what God told her was a lie. God could have finish it off right there but he decided to give humans a chance to govern themselves and prove Satan's point. The reason why He has not interfered so far is because we are still in the period of time God gave us to see the ability we actually have to rule our lives without His help.
The bible says in Psalms 37:10,11 that God will destroy the evil and leave only the good people. The bad that is happening in the world today is temporary.
This is God's promise in Revelation 21:4 "And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes and death will be no more, neither will outcry nor pain be anymore. the former things have passed away.", and in Isaiah 65:17 "Look, I am creating new heavens and a new earth. And the former things will not be called to mind. Nor will they come up into the hearth."
While we wait for these things to happen, we can all do our best to be loving and kind to one another and help those who are going through difficult times.