After reading Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion, I came to the conclusion that the human brain would have benefited from an evolutionary view of God. Both social and individual reasons were considered for this. Now, several thousand years later, this predisposition would no longer be relevant and thus be a redundant part of our neuronal structure. Just like other behaviors are no longer relevant, but still occasionally crop up.
Can you tell me exactly why all this is the case? And more specifically with regard to the image of God that many of us sometimes seem to develop instinctively?
Answer
The hypothesis states that the capacity for religious thinking makes it easier for an individual to apply the group norm unconditionally, without thinking. This is important with humans because we are such social creatures. We forge close and long-lasting bonds between individuals who are not even related or yet not directly related. This enables the covenant, or the community, to do much. In the past it had to do with hunting or protection against much larger and stronger animals, or warfare against other (competitive) groups. But people are still willing to make a lot of sacrifice on behalf of their own group (up to and including their own life).
Answered by
Prof. dr. dr. Luc Bouwens
Biomedical Sciences
Avenue des Pélain 2 1050 Ixelles
http://www.vub.ac.be/
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