Processing your request, Please wait....
Why We Believe in Gods: Andy Thomson (Lecture)
Click Stars Below to Vote!
This great lecture summarizes scientific research that explains why humans have an inclination to create divinity.
It is not a defense of atheism, but rather shows what science says about the various modules & capabilities that humans have developed over thousands of years that lend themselves to the creation & acceptance of religious explanations.
Although the presenter made clear that he is not a man of faith, the conference is not an attack on the church as much as an explanation for why people might believe. Very current and a good intro for anyone who wants to learn more about this topic.
Why We Believe in Gods: Andy Thomson (Lecture),
It did no such thing. That is how you get rid of a cheesehead at a presentation whom you don’t want to allow to take up time grandstanding — tell him “Maybe, I’m no expert” and get the mike away from him. If he had understood anything he heard, he would not have come to such a conclusion; and if he had come with anything but his own dogged position in his brain, he would have heard, because the presentation was very lucid.
If you think of it as a “psychological mechanism,” are you inferring that it has function, or that it has developed or evolved to provide one? That’s kind of a “promiscuous teleology” move, on a more sophisticated or adult level than the child’s “holes are for digging”, but no more logical.Every one of these common concepts of psychology he is bringing out is evidence for the conclusion that religion is epiphenomenal, the side effect of cognition that was imperfectly, unintentionally evolved.
An interesting opening statement where he confirms that “of course we all had religion belief initially”…or something along those lines.This,I would contend,is a product of the environment in America not a global trend.
Great video… Thank you for this great lecture. It’s certainly not because atheists and agnostics in this part of the world think Christianity, and Islam, is somehow less credible than other mythologies. But, Christianity, and Islam is often singled out is that it is at present the greatest danger to maintaining a secular society.
I understand, and I agree with you that bigger religions brings a lot of problems when it becomes authoritative and controlling. Religion is supposed to be a free choise and a private matter, separated from the politics. It’s unfortunate that children are socialized from birth whith strict religion, getting involuntarily internalized and almost brainwashed – this is the biggest problem in my opinion.
Seriously, you’re not comprehending what I’m sayng – you’re blindly reading what you wanna see. Your definition of religion is shallow. Religion doesn’t has to be dogmatic or political. I have my own religion..no rituals, no principles, no denial of the science – just a philosophy of the unknown. A private thought wich makes me feel good, that’s all. This is what I meant wich “psychological mechanism”. Politic is the origin of hatred, religion is a MISUSED tool to legitimize political actions.
Islam and Christianity are both Abrahamic religions like Spanish and French are both romance languages. The Christian God has a son named Jesus. The God of Islam does not. In Islam, Jesus is the prophet before Muhammad.Of course, if you are just talking about Arabic speaking Christians, then yes, Allah is the name they use for the God of the The Bible.
“the need of supernatural belief is universal and fundamental, something that has always been in the history of human life” – seriously? Are you really using this argument to prove that religion is good? Even the need to kill people always existed, as the need to rape, to be violent, to steal and to murder. Does it mean they’re good?
last, if you didn’t find any “meaning” to your life, applying a meaningless thing (like religion) doesn’t mean your life has sense now. The same good thing you find in religion could get to you by logical reasoning while this doesn’t apply to bad things. On the contrary, religions tells you to accept them completely (without reasoning) both good and bad things. You could follow religion and filter it with reason and be stuck in a stupid dilemma, or you could just follow reason.
it isn’t completely “socially constructed”? So what you would do to a pedophile who isn’t completely a bad person? Would you condemn him or not? Logic, math, science and reasoning will never been “socially destructive” due to their own nature while religion still is. Even if it can be applied to do good things, it doesn’t mean it is good.
There are dozens of other things which can gives “meaning” to your life, which doesn’t contemplate the fear for you to go to hell if you don’t respect them, the obligation for your children to follow you in this choice or someone who’s supernatural judgement may be applied in any field, even outside your beliefs. Yes, you’re definitely “limited” if you never found any of those things and just restricted yourself to those that has been teached to you.
Your thinking is too limited. It’s proven that religion isn’t completely socially constructed – the need of supernatural belief is universal and fundamental, something that has always been in the history of human life; this “need” has later on been used (world religions) to control other people. It has also been proved that meaninglessness causes depression wich in turn lower the quality of everyday life. Religion is valuable in the sense that it gives meaning, regardless if it’s synthetic.
it doesn’t “reduce anxiety, cause satisfaction and increase the quality of life” but it has almost the opposite effect on most of the people. Religion originally was made to justify wars, abnormal taxes, slavery and homicides (all things which improve the “quality of life”, ah?). Think about the money of the richest state ever (the Vatican): whouldn’t be better “quality of life” if these moneys were in hands of poor states?
I see religion as an abstraction, a mental tool to create synthetic meaning in life, which in turn can reduce anxiety, cause satisfaction and increase the quality of life .. This differs from the stereotypical outlook of dogmatic principles and authoritative constructed beliefs. Think of it as a psychological mechanism.
I like your presentation, but there are something that u simply can NOT explain with psychology. We have all the evidence all over the world that somebody with extremlely high technology has invaded us in a remote past. There is not enough space here to explain. All i want to say is if u read an ancient text or hieroglyph you just have to read with a little child eyes. Simply. Read book of Ezekiel. Did Ezekiel really invented that vision of God?? It´s a little weird 2 thousands of years befor…
To all Christians arguing that a God is still a possible, and likely entity in this universe:As an agnostic atheist, as most atheists are, I will admit the possibility of something vaguely godlike as within the realm of possibility, although not likely. But when you use such an argument to promote specifically and only the Christian God, it’s a fallacy. Just as much chance Allah is real and you’re burning for believing in heretical teachings of a false prophet.
why you need (any) god(s) to cause the big bang. And the meaning you put behind “nothing” is different from the one physicist does. FIY -> Casimir effectThe universe exist – how it came to be is still unanswered. Might be bang or might be blow – we may never get to know.But at least we can tell the sh1t is real and surround us (and is also inside us) and it is veeery measurable.Can’t say the same for your invented god fellow.
The whole lecture in 1 sentence:People are bad wired bag of chemicals with built-in floats in the brain, and also having hard time understanding cause and effect..How do you transfer this knowledge (which I assume is the cure) to audience with religious mental condition.. is …beyond me. But that’s why psychologists exist and they should focus on the religious folks, not on healthy people
cheers
Some people try to propagate this *fantasy* in the garb of science and to present their choice as having been dictated by scientific thought. In the final analysis, however, the denial involved in such an assertion is unworthy of science and philosophy, and even *contradicts* empirical logic.
@34:35Um…really? Wait…woah…WOAH…OK, so at first I was gonna say, “Um…really? People can actually “fall in love with God” in the same way that one…falls in love with a soulmate, say? *Really*…??? People…acutally DO that?!? LOL!!! I mean…WOW! That’s…special. Those poor deluded people…,” but then I thought, “Well, wait a minute. Don’t people do REALLY crazy things for those that they lov-……!!!! OMG! Those people..could be…driven to…do…*ANYTHING*! PASSIONATELY! :O