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Originally Posted by Sammi79
Ah, Ok I think I understand your point now. You are saying that science (specifically genetics) may provide insights into why people want/need belief structures, and that it may be dangerous to the psyche to not provide it with these  |
I said that there are neurological indices for an inbuilt desire to believe or secular, and the trinagle experiment: an obvious difference in people to antromporphise or not do so when observing a culture-free, value-neutral-neutral stimulus.
Diffent, but complementary to that I pointed out that psycholgical health in many people suffers if they are stripped of the conviction that their life is not safely embedded in any theoretical conception that gives them the illusion to control the security of their living conditions. This can be their idea of the meaning of life, andf the role theis existence plays in the chaoptiuc chaos around them - which you can see as either a blessed divine garden of manifestations in which each and everything has its place and legitimiation and meaning that just is too high for our ouzr minds to be understood - or as a brooding chaos that simply pays no inettrest at all at our individual existence and survival or death at all.
I described that before in other threads that we know from the Nazi'S death camps that people still being able to put their suffering their into the context of a higher meaning they believed in, showed greater survival chances due to greater psychologicaly health and robustness, not giving themselves up. As Victor Frankl, a camp survivor himself, put it: "He who has a Why to live for, can bear almost every How."
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hmmm. It is an interesting question, but one I feel has not been thoroughly researched yet, and certainly no conclusions have been drawn. I would also add that even if there is a genetic predisposition to desire a (quite obviously false) belief structure that it does not mean that this is healthy. And yes I use the word "Truth" for decribing reality as we can never quite define it. Philip. K. Dick. said 'Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away' - lol in that case religions are certainly reality.
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Feel...? Feeling has nothing to do with it, according research prohjects are goping on since years, as I pointed out, and have been published in their results since several years. And the genetic desire for belief does not, like you imply, decide on the belief'S content, but describes a vulnerability, or a need in the individual to believe in a meaning of existence in general. Thnjat the studies deiffer between members of a relgious community and secularisdts, is for methdologioc reasoins only, you need to foirm the two experimentation groups by any kind of solid criterion. But the results do not show a genetic marker for theism or church-dogma-attractiuon, but show a correlation between brain activity patterns and more or less belief-oriented worldview orientation (in this case: theistic beloievers and secularists/atheists), and show different strengths of trends in people to antropomorphise the objects of their percpetions.
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- I think anything divisive is harmful and discourages ethical behaviour, and as a flip side, anything inclusive helps and encourages ethical behaviour.
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That is too generalistic. Being divisive regarding the difference of humanism and Nazism hardly discourages ethical behavior when you defenbd the psoition of humanism, and beinbg inclusive regarding totalitarian ideoloigies when it comes to your willingness to be tolerant will not do you any good, but will destroy first your ideal of tolerance and next yourself.
What you mean, is probably this, which I find best expressed in the Kalamas Sutra from the Buddhist canon:
Do not put faith in traditions, even though they have been accepted for long generations and in many countries. Do not believe a thing because many repeat it. Do not accept a thing on the authority of one or another of the sages of old, nor on the ground of statements as found in the books. Never believe anything because probability is in its favour. Do not believe in that which you yourselves have imagined, thinking that a god has inspired it. Believe nothing merely on the authority of the teachers or the priests. After examination, believe that which you have tested for yourself and found reasonable, which is in conformity with your well being and that of others.