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The End of Faith
- Thread starter Lestat
- Start date
javaguru
Banned
If you have proof positive why do you have to be so derisive? Let the science speak for itself! Please post this "scientific proof." Really, I want to see this proof based on the scientific method! I'm particularly intrigued how you tested the existance of "God" and your methodogy as well as reproducable results. I can't wait for the reproduction of the Red Sea parting or the raising of the dead! It will revolutionize medicine!PolfaJelfa said:
scientific method
n.
The principles and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis.
P
PolfaJelfa
Guest
God Bless you sir!
Lestat said:
Your brother is a retard. It's OK. mine is too.
People invented religion, so they invented the rules. We alreadyhad the rules, so why do we need religion for them?
we don't.
ask your brother that one.
Check your PM.RADAR said:
U
UA_Iron
Guest
Faith as a product of evolution
We try to understand that faith is a natural response in humans. Victor Stenger, in his book Physics and Psychics, raises a tough question: "If supernatural beliefs were simply the product of the unsophisticated thinking patterns of early humans, then they should have largely faded away in our scientific age. Yet every survey of people's beliefs continues to indicate a strong majority who believe in God, angels, the devil, astrology, and various other occult and supernatural phenomena." [69]
A possible answer, says Stenger, comes when we consider the advent of the city, which "forced people into greater dependencies on one another." He continues, "Humanity became social. Leaders were now needed to keep some kind of civil order, and the village shaman and temple priest, with their supposed supernatural powers, proved to be effective in keeping everyone in line." [70] Stenger suggests that we "call upon materialism for a reasonable hypothesis: religion evolved by a process analogous to the natural selection that produced us and every other living species. Religious belief may now be deeply programmed in our DNA. This may have happened because, at one time, such beliefs provided a survival advantage for the people who had such coded information in their genes." [71]
"In the early days of the human race, we were few in number and struggled in competition with other species to survive. In that precarious situation, special advantage would accrue to those people living in communities with strong tribal rules forbidding behavior patterns threatening to the survival of the community. These ranged from taboos against incest and murder to special dietary prohibitions.
"By attributing these taboos to supernatural command, the leaders and their priests could enforce them more effectively. Individuals with a genetic disposition to question or disobey the rules would be suppressed, ostracized, or even killed. So they were less likely to pass their skeptical genes on to the next generation...." [72]
So, while recognizing that "the genetic programming in favor of supernatural belief does not have the value for survival it once had -- in fact, quite the contrary," [73] we can, in the interim, at least recognize that the tendency toward faith is a natural product of evolution. Stenger does offer hope, though:
"Fortunately, by the same process of evolution, we humans have developed a unique quality that gives us the power to overcome our instincts. This power resides in our intellect. Only through the application of intellect to overcome the dangerous behaviors programmed in our genes can we expect to survive. And our intellect is pointing the way for us to reprogram our own genes, to rid them of the transcendental temptations that now threaten our very existence." [74]
http://www.positiveatheism.org/faq/faq1111.htm#WHATISPOSATH
We try to understand that faith is a natural response in humans. Victor Stenger, in his book Physics and Psychics, raises a tough question: "If supernatural beliefs were simply the product of the unsophisticated thinking patterns of early humans, then they should have largely faded away in our scientific age. Yet every survey of people's beliefs continues to indicate a strong majority who believe in God, angels, the devil, astrology, and various other occult and supernatural phenomena." [69]
A possible answer, says Stenger, comes when we consider the advent of the city, which "forced people into greater dependencies on one another." He continues, "Humanity became social. Leaders were now needed to keep some kind of civil order, and the village shaman and temple priest, with their supposed supernatural powers, proved to be effective in keeping everyone in line." [70] Stenger suggests that we "call upon materialism for a reasonable hypothesis: religion evolved by a process analogous to the natural selection that produced us and every other living species. Religious belief may now be deeply programmed in our DNA. This may have happened because, at one time, such beliefs provided a survival advantage for the people who had such coded information in their genes." [71]
"In the early days of the human race, we were few in number and struggled in competition with other species to survive. In that precarious situation, special advantage would accrue to those people living in communities with strong tribal rules forbidding behavior patterns threatening to the survival of the community. These ranged from taboos against incest and murder to special dietary prohibitions.
"By attributing these taboos to supernatural command, the leaders and their priests could enforce them more effectively. Individuals with a genetic disposition to question or disobey the rules would be suppressed, ostracized, or even killed. So they were less likely to pass their skeptical genes on to the next generation...." [72]
So, while recognizing that "the genetic programming in favor of supernatural belief does not have the value for survival it once had -- in fact, quite the contrary," [73] we can, in the interim, at least recognize that the tendency toward faith is a natural product of evolution. Stenger does offer hope, though:
"Fortunately, by the same process of evolution, we humans have developed a unique quality that gives us the power to overcome our instincts. This power resides in our intellect. Only through the application of intellect to overcome the dangerous behaviors programmed in our genes can we expect to survive. And our intellect is pointing the way for us to reprogram our own genes, to rid them of the transcendental temptations that now threaten our very existence." [74]
http://www.positiveatheism.org/faq/faq1111.htm#WHATISPOSATH
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