The big booming voice inside you that says God exists

Last updated on: November 14, 2014 at 5:36 am by Epiphenom

The big booming voice inside you that says God exists 2014-11-14T05:36:12+01:00 Epiphenom

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Blogging heads TV has a great discussion between Paul Bloom (Yale University, author of Descarte’s Baby), and Joshua Knobe (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill): The big booming voice inside you that says God exists

The gist of their discussion is that religion is a biological accident. As a result of our evolutionary heritage, human beings are natural creationists and natural dualists. The evidence for this comes from studies in young children, who suffer promiscuous teleology (everything has a purpose, nothing just exists for its own purpose). So, for example, a child would say that a mountain is there for a purpose (it’s for climbing, perhaps). The purpose of a lion might be that it gives you something to look at when you visit a zoo.

Bloom also makes the point that children as young as 12 months have an inherent belief that order can only be created by animated (intentional) objects, whereas disorder can come from animate or inanimate objects. In other words, we are programmed to attribute intentionality. As a result, creationism is intuitive, whereas natural selection is profoundly counter intuitive.

They also claim that children – even those of secular parents – are also programmed to assume that ‘god made it’. But this I think reflects a cultural bias. These studies were done in the US, where almost everyone is religious (at least on the outside). I’m sure if they asked my children where the world came from, they would not say “God did it”!

They finish by concluding that, even in atheists, there is a ‘loud booming voice’ in your head pushing you to believe in god (when you look up at the night sky, for example). And they agree on this even they are both atheists themselves. Bloom says something to the effect that, even though the rational 2% of your mind is probably right, the other 98% is a relic from our evolutionary past. I disagree with them on this point also, and that they feel this way makes me suspect that they come from religious families. I suspect that people brought up in a secular or atheist environment seldom have a ‘god exists’ feeling. Feelings of awe and wonder, yes, but falling for the god delusion? I doubt it.

The whole program covers a range of other, related topics. Well worth digging in.

Is morality hardwired into us? (11:41)
Could we learn truly arbitrary moral rules? (05:04)
The big booming voice inside you that says God exists (12:12)
The mind-body dualism of children (10:07)
Do you need to have a body to get pissed off? (09:01)
The morality of killing gods and robots (06:46)

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 1, 2008

Using religion to treat mental illness

Next Post

April 7, 2008 D'Souza aghast as he discovers many scientists don't believe in God

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Causes of religion - evolution Causes of religion - psychological Causes of religion - social Demographics Digest Effects of religion - health Effects of religion - psychological Effects of religion - social Notifications Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet had a vision of God standing beside a destroyed altar?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Joel Micah Amos