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They're born that way. Then they have to be taught to not be atheist.
by dlsspy 17y ago
They're born that way. Then they have to be taught to not be atheist.
- jpablo 17y agoFollowing that train thought how do you explain that all (most?) human civilizations have invented (discovered?) gods?
- viraptor 17y agoSame way kids discover monsters - they need an explanation for the shadow / noise / ... That's especially true for the civilisations before writing, education, ... Gods in those times were mostly equivalent to things in nature - gods of thunder, sun, nature, etc.
- dlsspy 17y agoWhen I was young, food came to me because my parents brought it. I didn't understand where most things came from, but I could ask my dad, and he would bring them to me. When I became a parent, I wondered who brought the other things I needed that I needed. When I was cold, who brought me warmth? When I was thirsty, who brought the rain? Reapplying the model from my youth makes sense, right? We do the same thing today. When we are young, we are taught that if we are good, Santa Claus will reward us in the short term. If we are good, Jesus will reward us in the long term. At some point, people realize Santa Claus was a lie.
- a-priori 17y agoI disagree. Animals in general are naturally inclined towards superstitious thought. I recall experiments with rats and pigeons where they dispensed food at regular intervals. The animals ended up developing an elaborate ritual they repeated before each presentation of food, a sort of rain dance [1]. [1]: http://www.jstor.org/pss/4533467 http://www.jstor.org/pss/4533467 (Hank Davis was my professor for intro psych)