Comments on: Evolution of the God Gene

By: thepete

thepete — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:02:57 +0000

Religion seems to me to be a step toward science. We naturally want to explain how the world around us works. When we can't we make our best guess. It's our need to understand as much as we can that is an evolutionary trait. Whether we believe some god invented the universe or it came about because of the Big Bang, is irrelevant. I'm guessing that in another thousand years, or so, folks will look back at our “faith” in the Big Bang and think it just as primitive a thought as worshiping a god that lives on a hill seems to us now.

This whole “god gene” thing comes from the POV of someone looking to prove it's real, rather than from someone interested in drawing conclusions from the facts. Porn is another cross-cultural phenomena. Is there a porn gene? Are we hard wired for porn? Or are we just reacting to stimuli received via evolutionary tools that primarily serve other purposes? Surely, feeling the urge to have sex with a photograph isn't an evolved behavior. It seems a pretty obvious biproduct. Like believing in an invisible bearded guy with no evidence whatsoever just because you're upset a loved one died.

By: thepete

thepete — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:02:00 +0000

Religion seems to me to be a step toward science. We naturally want to explain how the world around us works. When we can’t we make our best guess. It’s our need to understand as much as we can that is an evolutionary trait. Whether we believe some god invented the universe or it came about because of the Big Bang, is irrelevant. I’m guessing that in another thousand years, or so, folks will look back at our “faith” in the Big Bang and think it just as primitive a thought as worshiping a god that lives on a hill seems to us now.

This whole “god gene” thing comes from the POV of someone looking to prove it’s real, rather than from someone interested in drawing conclusions from the facts. Porn is another cross-cultural phenomena. Is there a porn gene? Are we hard wired for porn? Or are we just reacting to stimuli received via evolutionary tools that primarily serve other purposes? Surely, feeling the urge to have sex with a photograph isn’t an evolved behavior. It seems a pretty obvious biproduct. Like believing in an invisible bearded guy with no evidence whatsoever just because you’re upset a loved one died.

By: AlecSmart

AlecSmart — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:22:13 +0000

I think you'll find most atheists DON'T consider religion is 'useless'.

Because religion is so radically different in every society, and worship of deities becomes more sophisticated and ritualised as humans evolve, these are the primary reasons why atheists don't accept religion.

Don't you think the discovery of transitions in supernatural belief systems rather proves atheists' point: that worship of superior entities cannot be codified and established as a moral truth, because religions will inevitably change again and again over time and geographic boundaries?