How many gods have humans invented and what purpose do they serve?

[rousseau]

Has anyone bothered to read any of the info in any of the links I've posted? I assume not, as nobody has said whether or not they've ever heard of the science called, "neurotheology", which is supposedly a branch of neuroscience that investigates why humans believe in gods and other supernatural myths. I was hoping someone might be interested in exploring this topic, but apparently not.

Apparently there is a tiny part of our brains that allow us to believe in gods etc. Why did we evolve to have the tendency to believe in mythology? Why do some of us not believe in these things? That's what I find interesting. Maybe if and when I have time, I'll see if I can find more info on neurotheology. I've always found neurology to be interesting and now there is actually a branch exploring how our brains allowed us to believe in things that have no evidence, other than emotional reactions and a desire to think there is some higher power out there in the universe, regardless if it was an animal, god, goddess or a one true god, like the patriarchal religions embrace. Imo, based on my reading regarding patriarchal societies, those religions often have the tendency to be the most harmful, especially if you're a woman.

Sorry, reading is hard these days. I've discussed this exact thing a few times at this forum.

My take is that the 'tiny part of our brain' that allows us to believe in God likely isn't specific to religion. More likely, it serves a broader function that's critical to our survival and reproduction. It just also causes religious belief as a byproduct. But I really don't want to go into detail.

Since I don't read that many threads, I'm sorry I missed what you said before. I'm not sure about your take. I guess I'll have to investigate this more when I have the time.

In short, those who think in a way that would lead to religious belief have more kids. Those who tend toward higher order thinking have fewer kids. But religion isn't the central element of that style of thought, it's just easily accepted by that style of thought, as is everything else in a given culture.

So given that people of a certain neural structure produce more kids, by proportion populations are always made up of these people, and religious-like cultural artifacts predominate. And as a corollary, this would lead to the evolution of some concrete brain components (what's being studied in the article).

 

[steve_bank]

Has anyone bothered to read any of the info in any of the links I've posted? I assume not, as nobody has said whether or not they've ever heard of the science called, "neurotheology", which is supposedly a branch of neuroscience that investigates why humans believe in gods and other supernatural myths. I was hoping someone might be interested in exploring this topic, but apparently not.

Apparently there is a tiny part of our brains that allow us to believe in gods etc. Why did we evolve to have the tendency to believe in mythology? Why do some of us not believe in these things? That's what I find interesting. Maybe if and when I have time, I'll see if I can find more info on neurotheology. I've always found neurology to be interesting and now there is actually a branch exploring how our brains allowed us to believe in things that have no evidence, other than emotional reactions and a desire to think there is some higher power out there in the universe, regardless if it was an animal, god, goddess or a one true god, like the patriarchal religions embrace. Imo, based on my reading regarding patriarchal societies, those religions often have the tendency to be the most harmful, especially if you're a woman.

Sorry, reading is hard these days. I've discussed this exact thing a few times at this forum.

My take is that the 'tiny part of our brain' that allows us to believe in God likely isn't specific to religion. More likely, it serves a broader function that's critical to our survival and reproduction. It just also causes religious belief as a byproduct. But I really don't want to go into detail.

Since I don't read that many threads, I'm sorry I missed what you said before. I'm not sure about your take. I guess I'll have to investigate this more when I have the time.

In short, those who think in a way that would lead to religious belief have more kids. Those who tend toward higher order thinking have fewer kids. But religion isn't the central element of that style of thought, it's just easily accepted by that style of thought, as is everything else in a given culture.

So given that people of a certain neural structure produce more kids, by proportion populations are always made up of these people, and religious-like cultural artifacts predominate. And as a corollary, this would lead to the evolution of some concrete brain components (what's being studied in the article).

I do not think your conclusion is valid.

My experience with engineers and those with science credentials says otherwise. Itius a mixed bag.

Look at Biden or Pete Buttigieg for that matter. Buttigieg is a Christian gay married man who other than homosexuality generally espouses conservative Christian values. Harvard and Oxford, hardly an intectual irrational slouch. Our secretary of transportaion.

 

[rousseau]

Has anyone bothered to read any of the info in any of the links I've posted? I assume not, as nobody has said whether or not they've ever heard of the science called, "neurotheology", which is supposedly a branch of neuroscience that investigates why humans believe in gods and other supernatural myths. I was hoping someone might be interested in exploring this topic, but apparently not.

Apparently there is a tiny part of our brains that allow us to believe in gods etc. Why did we evolve to have the tendency to believe in mythology? Why do some of us not believe in these things? That's what I find interesting. Maybe if and when I have time, I'll see if I can find more info on neurotheology. I've always found neurology to be interesting and now there is actually a branch exploring how our brains allowed us to believe in things that have no evidence, other than emotional reactions and a desire to think there is some higher power out there in the universe, regardless if it was an animal, god, goddess or a one true god, like the patriarchal religions embrace. Imo, based on my reading regarding patriarchal societies, those religions often have the tendency to be the most harmful, especially if you're a woman.

Sorry, reading is hard these days. I've discussed this exact thing a few times at this forum.

My take is that the 'tiny part of our brain' that allows us to believe in God likely isn't specific to religion. More likely, it serves a broader function that's critical to our survival and reproduction. It just also causes religious belief as a byproduct. But I really don't want to go into detail.

Since I don't read that many threads, I'm sorry I missed what you said before. I'm not sure about your take. I guess I'll have to investigate this more when I have the time.

In short, those who think in a way that would lead to religious belief have more kids. Those who tend toward higher order thinking have fewer kids. But religion isn't the central element of that style of thought, it's just easily accepted by that style of thought, as is everything else in a given culture.

So given that people of a certain neural structure produce more kids, by proportion populations are always made up of these people, and religious-like cultural artifacts predominate. And as a corollary, this would lead to the evolution of some concrete brain components (what's being studied in the article).

I do not think your conclusion is valid.

My experience with engineers and those with science credentials says otherwise. Itius a mixed bag.

Look at Biden or Pete Buttigieg for that matter. Buttigieg is a Christian gay married man who other than homosexuality generally espouses conservative Christian values. Harvard and Oxford, hardly an intectual irrational slouch. Our secretary of transportaion.

A lot of the smartest among us.. still quite prone to irrational thinking. It's just that the dumbest among us are batshit.

 

[bilby]

In short, those who think in a way that would lead to religious belief have more kids. Those who tend toward higher order thinking have fewer kids. But religion isn't the central element of that style of thought, it's just easily accepted by that style of thought, as is everything else in a given culture.

So given that people of a certain neural structure produce more kids, by proportion populations are always made up of these people, and religious-like cultural artifacts predominate.

Nice hypothesis.

It appears to predict a steady increase in religious tendencies of human populations for the last few thousand years, though; And the data suggest that the opposite is actually happening.

 

[rousseau]

In short, those who think in a way that would lead to religious belief have more kids. Those who tend toward higher order thinking have fewer kids. But religion isn't the central element of that style of thought, it's just easily accepted by that style of thought, as is everything else in a given culture.

So given that people of a certain neural structure produce more kids, by proportion populations are always made up of these people, and religious-like cultural artifacts predominate.

Nice hypothesis.

It appears to predict a steady increase in religious tendencies of human populations for the last few thousand years, though; And the data suggest that the opposite is actually happening.

The data isn't suggesting that. By proportion, globally, we're becoming more religious. Most of the growth is coming from Africa. Check Pew.

The wrench in the system you're referring to is the accumulation of cultural knowledge. As we discover that atheism can be a thing, that grows in some regions. But you need to distinguish between ipso facto 'religion' and 'religious-like'. I can think of quite a few cultural phenomena that aren't ipso facto religions, but are very similar. The brain structure stays pretty much the same, the cultural artifacts change.

Which pretty much speaks to my point that religion isn't the defining point of the brain functioning that way. When people figure out that Christianity isn't real, they might still grab onto Marxism, Feminism, or still sort of want to believe in Christianity but just don't care enough to go to Church.