humanity has a predisposition, perhaps a need, to believe. This craving is not universal but it is global and infects the vast majority of the species. ... While this view has been around for a while, it has been brought to the fore by the publication of the first papers from the multinational ‘‘Explaining Religion’’ project, centred in Oxford. Early papers from the research indicate that religion has evolved to help humanity in the collaboration and selflessness that underpin social cohesion.He goes on to point out the other key findings of this latest research, particularly that education alone is not going to remove the impulse to believe.
why would anyone believe in the weird and the wonderful faiths around the world? The cognitive scientists tell us the answer – because our minds are designed to believe and they get a good dose of training.If it is true that the need to believe is hardwired, then the impact of external factors such as education and indoctrination one way or another are not going to remove it. I tend to agree with Gross that atheism will probably always be a minority position, especially materialistic atheism. There does seem to be a need to believe in most people.It is a mixture of hard wiring and programming – the hardware (the mind) and the software (the education). ...
Those who believe that the human traits which lead to religiosity are difficult to resist and atheists will always be in the minority must explain why the Scandinavian countries are mostly atheist.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point that suggests external factors may be stronger than any inborn need to believe. But how many Scandinavians are actually atheists as opposed to people who are just non-religious? If you look at this research you will note that on page 5 we find: "Norris and Inglehart (2004) found that 54% of Swedes do not believe in
ReplyDeleteGod. According to Bondeson (2003), 74% of Swedes said that they did not believe
in “a personal God.” According to Greeley (2003), 46% of Swedes do not believe
in God, although only 17% self-identify as “atheist.” According to Froese (2001),
69% of Swedes are either atheist or agnostic. According to Gustafsoon and
Pettersson (2000), 82% of Swedes do not believe in a “personal God.” According
to Davie (1999), 85% of Swedes do not believe in God."
If all these people don't believe in God, why do only 17% self-identify as atheists? Do they believe in an afterlife or other supernatural phenomena?
I bet that there are a lot of people who don't believe in God who don't identify as "atheists" because the word "atheist" has bad connotations to them. I like to call myself an atheist because I think that is the most unambiguous term which refers to my beliefs.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this is all besides the point because what we are talking about is whether or not people, by nature, will tend to believe in God; not whether they will call themselves atheists.
I believe what these sorts of studies reveal is that people tend to look for consciousness and volition in inanimate objects. This describes a mode of thinking and not a conclusion that people must necessarily arrive at after processing all of the relevant information. It doesn't mean we're stuck believing in God any more than a study which shows that people are naturally afraid of the dark until they learn not to be proves that people are stuck fearing the dark!
"I bet that there are a lot of people who don't believe in God who don't identify as "atheists" because the word "atheist" has bad connotations to them."
ReplyDeleteThat's undoubtedly true for some, but there are also people who don't believe in a personal god but do believe in the supernatural, life after death, the soul, and so forth. In my opinion, such beliefs are similar to god belief.
"I believe what these sorts of studies reveal is that people tend to look for consciousness and volition in inanimate objects. This describes a mode of thinking and not a conclusion that people must necessarily arrive at after processing all of the relevant information. "
That would seem to make sense, but Gross addresses that point in the article, noting that a high degree of education/knowledge doesn't appear to eliminate the need to believe for a significant number of people.
"It doesn't mean we're stuck believing in God any more than a study which shows that people are naturally afraid of the dark until they learn not to be proves that people are stuck fearing the dark! "
Again, that's logical, but there does seem to be at least some evidence that belief in God is wired into many people. And not everyone is susceptible to logical reasoning, when that logical reasoning conflicts with their feelings and biases. If the urge to believe is strong -- and I think it is -- then you will always have a significant number of people who will reject evidence that conflicts with that urge to believe.