1. When one of my friends got to read the following message, he simply advised me in an intolerant tone to ignore the whole thing. Prof. Majid's forwarding comment is also not less intolerant. I know in these forums there are self-declared atheists who are at least not fake and totally insincere. Any way, I would say that the study should be thought provoking for all of us. It has categorically been mentioned that the research objective was not to prove or disprove existence of God or gods or goddesses. "Does God exist?" cannot be a hypothesis for a scientific investigation. Only places you can go for an answer are the disciplines like theology, philosophy, or metaphysics. But as you know you cannot expect a unique answer as there is none. While discourses are intellectually engaging, eventually it takes you nowhere. Ultimately it boils down to faith. Argumentative Indians have been debating over the issue for more than two thousand years. Ramkrishna Bhattacharya's 'Carvakacarca', although a very compact one, is a very helpful guide.
2. The "Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project" drew on research from various disciplines including psychology. I cannot undermine the value of the research. (Jung has interesting observations on the problems confronting a "modern" man.) Think about a prehistoric man. So much uncertainty was around him. He could not explain any natural phenomena. An idea of a supernatural power crystallized within him. As man progressed, he had answers to many natural phenomena, but still were facing newer uncertainties. Idea of God/god/goddess got more and more refined. From very beginning of birth of a civiliaztion, this concept got rooted in his subconscious mind deeper and deeper. Rationalists sometimes succeeded in removing this idea from his mind. It got suppressed for a while (example, Soviet Union), but began to reappear as the external pressure was gone. The intoduction to the research does not say any thing more than that.
From: Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:49 PM
Subject: [mukto-mona] RE: We are born religious
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:49 PM
Subject: [mukto-mona] RE: We are born religious
Advances in the study of physiology has found that humans are genetically predisposed to have some kind of religious emotions on the cognitive part of the brain. I found the following especially interesting:
Project Director Dr Justin Barrett, from the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, said: 'This project does not set out to prove god or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact. If we look at why religious beliefs and practices persist in societies across the world, we conclude that individuals bound by religious ties might be more likely to cooperate as societies. Interestingly, we found that religion is less likely to thrive in populations living in cities in developed nations where there is already a strong social support network.'
I just fervently hope that this gives our self-declared atheists (fake, totally insincere, and crypto-communalists, imho) a satisfactory answer, and that they would not pester us with kochkochani questions like "Does God exist?" or statements like "Religion is the root of all evil" every week on a regular basis.
~Farida
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 09:30:10 +0530
Subject: We are born religious
Project Director Dr Justin Barrett, from the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, said: 'This project does not set out to prove god or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact. If we look at why religious beliefs and practices persist in societies across the world, we conclude that individuals bound by religious ties might be more likely to cooperate as societies. Interestingly, we found that religion is less likely to thrive in populations living in cities in developed nations where there is already a strong social support network.'
I just fervently hope that this gives our self-declared atheists (fake, totally insincere, and crypto-communalists, imho) a satisfactory answer, and that they would not pester us with kochkochani questions like "Does God exist?" or statements like "Religion is the root of all evil" every week on a regular basis.
~Farida
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 09:30:10 +0530
Subject: We are born religious
Below is an interesting article on our genetical predisposition to God and religion
--
Xavier William |
Humans 'Predisposed' to Believe in Gods and the Afterlife
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2011) — A three-year international research project, directed by two academics at the University of Oxford, finds that humans have natural tendencies to believe in gods and an afterlife.
________________________________________
The £1.9 million project involved 57 researchers who conducted over 40 separate studies in 20 countries representing a diverse range of cultures. The studies (both analytical and empirical) conclude that humans are predisposed to believe in gods and an afterlife, and that both theology and atheism are reasoned responses to what is a basic impulse of the human mind.
The researchers point out that the project was not setting out to prove the existence of god or otherwise, but sought to find out whether concepts such as gods and an afterlife appear to be entirely taught or basic expressions of human nature.
'The Cognition, Religion and Theology Project' led by Dr Justin Barrett, from the Centre for Anthropology and Mind at Oxford University, drew on research from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and theology. They directed an international body of researchers conducting studies in 20 different countries that represented both traditionally religious and atheist societies.
The findings are due to be published in two separate books by psychologist Dr Barrett in Cognitive Science, Religion and Theology and Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion.
Project Co-director Professor Roger Trigg, from the Ian Ramsey Centre in the Theology Faculty at Oxford University, has also written a forthcoming book, applying the wider implications of the research to issues about freedom of religion in Equality, Freedom and Religion (OUP).
Some findings of the Cognition, Religion and Theology Project:
• Studies by Emily Reed Burdett and Justin Barrett, from the University of Oxford, suggest that children below the age of five find it easier to believe in some superhuman properties than to understand similar human limitations. Children were asked whether their mother would know the contents of a box in which she could not see. Children aged three believed that their mother and God would always know the contents, but by the age of four, children start to understand that their mothers are not all-seeing and all knowing. However, children may continue to believe in all-seeing, all-knowing supernatural agents, such as a god or gods.
• Experiments involving adults, conducted by Jing Zhu from Tsinghua University (China), and Natalie Emmons and Jesse Bering from The Queen's University, Belfast, suggest that people across many different cultures instinctively believe that some part of their mind, soul or spirit lives on after-death. The studies demonstrate that people are natural 'dualists' finding it easy to conceive of the separation of the mind and the body.
Project Director Dr Justin Barrett, from the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, said: 'This project does not set out to prove god or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact. If we look at why religious beliefs and practices persist in societies across the world, we conclude that individuals bound by religious ties might be more likely to cooperate as societies. Interestingly, we found that religion is less likely to thrive in populations living in cities in developed nations where there is already a strong social support network.'
Project Co-Director Professor Roger Trigg, from the University of Oxford's Ian Ramsey Centre, said: 'This project suggests that religion is not just something for a peculiar few to do on Sundays instead of playing golf. We have gathered a body of evidence that suggests that religion is a common fact of human nature across different societies. This suggests that attempts to suppress religion are likely to be short-lived as human thought seems to be rooted to religious concepts, such as the existence of supernatural agents or gods, and the possibility of an afterlife or pre-life.
Xavier William |
__._,_.___
****************************************************
Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration:
Call For Articles:
http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68
http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___