What Causes Religious Belief? | Episode 1307 | Closer To Truth
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- What causes religious belief? Why are religions so pervasive, across diverse human cultures? If God exists, would God have made it so? But there are entirely natural reasons to expect the widespread belief in God. Featuring interviews with Colin Blakemore, Thalia Wheatley, Justin Barrett, Bruce Hood, Elizabeth Loftus, Warren Brown, Jared Diamond, J.L. Schellenberg, and Stuart Kauffman.
Season 13, Episode 7 - #CloserToTruth
▶Register for free at CTT.com for subscriber-only exclusives: bit.ly/2GXmFsP
Closer To Truth host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.
▶Free access to Closer to Truth's library of 5,000 videos: bit.ly/376lkKN
Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
#Religion #Cause
Closer to Truth asks great questions and by the end of almost every episode I find myself feeling further from truth.....
Couldn't agree more 😞
So true bro
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know
When it comes to the infinities involved with existence, closer and further are one and the same.
It seems to you like you're getting farther but in reality you're very close to truth
"Our fathers are our first gods" -Carlos Santana. The desire to be comforted by something bigger than ourselves in the face of fear and uncertainty.
I always saw my dad as a teacher not a god. I didn't need much training. He let me find my own world view instead of imprinting his own.
@@thomasridley8675 The best kind of teacher. All my best. M.
@@mahamudra8150 ✌️👍
Our father who art in heaven ... teaches the the Son of Man, the Logos incarnate. Perhaps it is not random that we are persons in the image of God , interpersonal relationship is so important for us, and we have father and mother from whom we directly receive the life and our personality. So theologically nothing surprising in what you say , it does not contradict the truth believed by Christians , fits in with the style of the Revelation.
@@jozsefnemeth935 We were not created in the image of God.....God was created in the image of us. Just my opinion. Best wishes.
How can any believer IN any religion not see that others with contradicting beliefs use the same three ingredients for their beliefs: 1: Personal experience, 2: Apologetics, 3: Faith.
And, when you realize it, how can you still believe in your version/religion?
The best religion is Life! It is amazing.
Closer To Truth.. but never close enough to find out... It's a thought-provoking series. Thanks
Belief in religion offers an investment into eternal life.
I'd say "Jeez" - except you'll probably read something into it
To me specifically Christianity opens up a way of transcending the inadequacy of our own goodness and of what we could be but fail to be and offers a road to a possible redemption of not only myself but to the universe. This in my mind is expressed in the Catholic Confiteor: I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you my brothers and sisters , that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed; in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. The problem of the inability to live up to the good exists whether God exists or not but those who downplay the problem are in my opinion not looking deeply at the problem. It is at its core the problem of evil and how we as perpetrators in this evil can somehow have hope that we can overcome it.
Hmm, I don’t see it. If a god exists then there is hope to transcend all this and if there is not the need would still exist but could never be realized.
Shame about all that pedophelia though
All the more the need. Human history is awash in personal and corporate monstrosities since the dawn of time. It is the possibility of transcending this both individually and corporately is precisely what I was talking about.
11:30 - “we have a mind that is predisposed to seeing causality” Best explanation for religious belief 👏👏
Yes. But another form of the question, "Is there a God?" is "Why do we have a mind predisposed in this way?"
I guess it depends if a presupposition underlies the question asked. I can easily think of an explanation from evolution by natural selection. This doesn’t mean I’m right, of course. But if it’s consistent with the science, it’s more believable (to me, at least) than any conclusion we can prematurely jump to. Just my $0.02.
@@sirrevzalot I don't think I'm jumping to a conclusion. Rather, I'm asking the question, Is the "[predisposition] to seeing causality [as the] best explanation for religious belief" jumping to a conclusion? How could one know that for sure? It may be simply begging the question. But I will not jump to that conclusion.
@@billwassner1433 Ah, thank you for clarifying the question. I guess I’m not the person to whom your question is directed, but for my part, labeling something the best explanation doesn’t make it the ultimate explanation (i.e., a conclusive end to the question). It may simply be the best one’s yet heard or the best one available at the time. That’s why I shared above that I’d find a natural explanation more believable than one that needs to invoke the mysteries to connect the dots. It’s not the only nor the last thing I’d consider in making a decision, but it’d hold more weight for me than a theological explanation.
And I don’t think you jumped to a conclusion. My point was to state a natural explanation, if consistent with the science, is more believable to me than any conclusion we could otherwise jump to. To my knowledge, I didn’t see you make that error 🙂
@@sirrevzalot Good point
Beautiful video which does bring us Closer To Truth.
Perfect topic for some ego flexing in comment section
Yeah, thats true, although I think people who feel superior for holding/not holding certain beliefs are being unreasonable. At no time do we choose our beliefs, we are simply convinced, then our brain works overtime to defend any beliefs. There is nothing about a flat earther believer that makes them inferior, for example, they have just been raised in such a way that a flat earth argument convinced them, and there is no reason to think that we would believe differently in their circumstances.
I guess that doesn't include you? 😂
@@davidflynn6790 watch the devil and father amorth trailer.
Kuhn is fearless. He asks questions and gets chastised about some of them from some but he persists. The only stupid question is the one not asked.
I believe that religious experience and the power it has to motivate communities of people is something that has been naturally selected for. Whether right or wrong in its assumptions, culturally, it serves its purpose to push cooperation and 'togetherness' forward; allowing a more powerful force to overcome adversity.
I'm not religious at all and don't believe in a God but this is where I feel that the sense of 'something else' comes from; a desire to fit in and work together for a common goal. It's kept groups of people alive for thousands of years and has proven very effective to that end.
I love the Aenima-esque beginning of this show. ;)
learn to swim
Brilliant video. If only there were more people like Mr. Kuhn saying: "Hey, this is what I believe - so let's first consider the opposite of what I think is true."
Did you notice that when it comes to religion he NEVER asks the tough questions?
Like 1. What does one DO in Heaven? Is Heaven one vast Retirement Home? Billions of people just sitting about doing nothing? And idle, useless, pointless existence for eternity?
How does that make any sense?
2. What about the loved ones down on earth? Could they be starving? Sick with Covid19? suffering? Homeless? Children going to bed hungry? Daughter being abused by Mom's new boyfriend?
NONE ASK! It seems people stop caring once they get to heaven or once promised eternal pleasures of the flesh they stop asking questions
@@ramaraksha01 exactly! when you try and pin it down. heaven makes no sense. the tv show the good place pokes fun at this in their last season when they visit "heaven"
@@fisher7865 Heaven is a metaphor for the Womb, Childhood - a time of joy & happiness - no work, few cares - our parents kept us in a safe bubble - watched over us, kept their troubles to themselves
"Mommy lost her job? don't worry she will get another soon
Daddy is sick, has to go to the hospital? Don't worry it is nothing, he will be back soon"
Amazingly BILLIONS of people think they can run back to Mommy, be children again this time for eternity
A magic Nanny will keep them in a safe bubble - will feed, protect, shelter, care and keep them away from the big bad real world!
Honestly, how any educated, intelligent being thinks that Heaven makes any sense is beyond me
.
What works are the lack of questions
I keep asking - what does one DO in Heaven? Can you describe a DAY? ONE DAY?
And these people run from such a question!
What is amazing is that none of the followers will ask such a question
And even more amazing - none from the media!
And when I write to newspapers asking such a question and saying Heaven is a metaphor - I cannot get published!
The Christian/Islamic media doing its thing to protect religion
@@ramaraksha01 and is someone going to enjoy heaven knowing that a loved one went to hell?
Is someone that believes in God yet is a criminal or a narcissist going to heaven? Is someone that’s a good person helps society (because they have a good heart and not for brownie points to heaven) and doesn’t believe in God going to hell?
Definitely makes zero sense to me.
@@KAT-dg6el I know - what is amazing is that such questions are never asked!
Those that are converting - do they not ask themselves such questions? Their families, friends, coworkers, people who have helped them thru tough times are to be dumped into hell?
Amazing how easy it is to turn even good people into callous Nazis - ready to throw entire families, women, children & even babies into hell!
Even more chilling - I live in the US, & I can't get such questions published - no newspaper or magazine will publish my letters!
All this media covering up for religious hate
The more we understand nature the less we need the supernatural and the more satisfaction there is in feeling apart of the unfolding universe.
very impressive episode
I quite liked this episode, as the question of what causes religious belief is _so_ much more interesting than questions of any particular deity's existence or attributes thereof outside of the imaginations of human beings. I found something - in many cases a lot of things - to like about what all of the thinkers in this episode said. I especially liked Mr. Kauffman's take on the need for an appreciation of that certain ineffability of living and being in the world. I find many rituals absolutely beautiful to experience, though much _much_ more as a sort of cultural poetry and expression of said ineffability than connection to anything supernatural.
I believe in chemistry, biology, mathematics etc. based on evidence of their validity. I believe in Jesus Christ because he fulfills 300 prophecies written over 1500 years by 30 different writers. The mathematical odds of that are astronomical. That is my evidence.
While it depends on what one means by religion, belief, religious or other, is often a desire to find certainty in the transcendent.
Makes sense. The concept of religion is a modern perspectively. In today's world we rely on political authorities, businessmen, medical authorities and entertainers etc for guidance filtered through media. In the ancient world religion authorities were the main game in town for learning about the origin of life and guidance.
It's a necessary component of the human mind
My dear Mr. Kohm
I’ve just mentioned your videos over some 10 years, I have just came to mention to the world that just have washing’s that my great impersionist author (Mr. Kohn) is the perfect personal that I’ve encompined and lovid and great accompanied and the sevelaral years of your exclamation of their the notion of Christ vs. God , I’ve gotten you my real truth that God is my true truth to the universe, and that my God is Christ only is my great human lover of my real God of the universe.
I love your work Mr. Kuhn,
Thank you for all.
dB
I think that Religious Belief came from our reasoning minds. There is a natural sequence involved. 1) It started with the idea that there must be a creator of everything. This idea caught on. It spread through the population and it was accepted. 2) Another idea came about that was built on the first idea. The idea was to control the behavior of others(believers in the first idea). At this point, the second idea came about for purely selfish reasons. This controlling idea probably came about when someone said something like "the creator wants you to....." or "the creator spoke to me and said...". At first it was all about using other weak mind individuals to do your own bidding. Those that took advantage soon became the leaders in their own populations. At this point, the purpose of Religious Belief changed. It went from being used for purely selfish reasons to being used also as an early form of government. It's hard to imagine that the top leaders in government would lie to get what they want. Surely, that never happens.
Very well said
Think this is the only episode ive watched that you actually came to a conclusion,and in a categorical manner no less!!! Not sure how or why you came to these conclusions,but your sure did!!! Id say curiosity is what comes naturally to humans and certainly NOT religion!!! Thanks again.. (y)
I see it as a sense of community, a need to bond with others in like and kind. That is, for most, but not all as there are those that wander off by themselves to seek a deeper understanding and meaning of what they think God is. Perhaps they're looking for an answer to this weird existence, a mind boggling enigma to say the least
hhhhhm interesting, thanks for sharing brother
Awesome👏👏👏👏👏
A segment from 'Saved by the Light of the Buddha Within'...
My new understandings of what many call 'God -The Holy Spirit' - resulting from some of the extraordinary ongoing after-effects relating to my NDE...
Myoho-Renge-Kyo represents the identity of what some scientists are now referring to as the unified field of consciousnesses. In other words, it’s the essence of all existence and non-existence - the ultimate creative force behind planets, stars, nebulae, people, animals, trees, fish, birds, and all phenomena, manifest or latent. All matter and intelligence are simply waves or ripples manifesting to and from this core source. Consciousness (enlightenment) is itself the actual creator of everything that exists now, ever existed in the past, or will exist in the future - right down to the minutest particles of dust - each being an individual ripple or wave.
The big difference between chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and most other conventional prayers is that instead of depending on a ‘middleman’ to connect us to our state of inner enlightenment, we’re able to do it ourselves. That’s because chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo allows us to tap directly into our enlightened state by way of this self-produced sound vibration. ‘Who or What Is God?’ If we compare the concept of God being a separate entity that is forever watching down on us, to the teachings of Nichiren, it makes more sense to me that the true omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of what most people perceive to be God, is the fantastic state of enlightenment that exists within each of us. Some say that God is an entity that’s beyond physical matter - I think that the vast amount of information continuously being conveyed via electromagnetic waves in today’s world gives us proof of how an invisible state of God could indeed exist.
For example, it’s now widely known that specific data relayed by way of electromagnetic waves has the potential to help bring about extraordinary and powerful effects - including an instant global awareness of something or a mass emotional reaction. It’s also common knowledge that these invisible waves can easily be used to detonate a bomb or to enable NASA to control the movements of a robot as far away as the Moon or Mars - none of which is possible without a receiver to decode the information that’s being transmitted. Without the receiver, the data would remain impotent. In a very similar way, we need to have our own ‘receiver’ switched on so that we can activate a clear and precise understanding of our own life, all other life and what everything else in existence is.
Chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo each day helps us to achieve this because it allows us to reach the core of our enlightenment and keep it switched on. That’s because Myoho-Renge-Kyo represents the identity of what scientists now refer to as the unified field of consciousnesses. To break it down - Myoho represents the Law of manifestation and latency (Nature) and consists of two alternating states. For example, the state of Myo is where everything in life that’s not obvious to us exists - including our stored memories when we’re not thinking about them - our hidden potential and inner emotions whenever they’re dormant - our desires, our fears, our wisdom, happiness, karma - and more importantly, our enlightenment.
The other state, ho, is where everything in Life exists whenever it becomes evident to us, such as when a thought pops up from within our memory - whenever we experience or express our emotions - or whenever a good or bad cause manifests as an effect from our karma. When anything becomes apparent, it merely means that it’s come out of the state of Myo (dormancy/latency) and into a state of ho (manifestation). It’s the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness, being awake or asleep, or knowing and not knowing.
The second law - Renge - Ren meaning cause and ge meaning effect, governs and controls the functions of Myoho - these two laws of Myoho and Renge, not only function together simultaneously but also underlies all spiritual and physical existence.
The final and third part of the tri-combination - Kyo, is the Law that allows Myoho to integrate with Renge - or vice versa. It’s the great, invisible thread of energy that fuses and connects all Life and matter - as well as the past, present and future. It’s also sometimes termed the Universal Law of Communication - perhaps it could even be compared with the string theory that many scientists now suspect exists.
Just as the cells in our body, our thoughts, feelings and everything else is continually fluctuating within us - all that exists in the world around us and beyond is also in a constant state of flux - constantly controlled by these three fundamental laws. In fact, more things are going back and forth between the two states of Myo and ho in a single moment than it would ever be possible to calculate or describe. And it doesn’t matter how big or small, famous or trivial anything or anyone may appear to be, everything that’s ever existed in the past, exists now or will exist in the future, exists only because of the workings of the Laws ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’ - the basis of the four fundamental forces, and if they didn’t function, neither we nor anything else could go on existing. That’s because all forms of existence, including the seasons, day, night, birth, death and so on, are moving forward in an ongoing flow of continuation - rhythmically reverting back and forth between the two fundamental states of Myo and ho in absolute accordance with Renge - and by way of Kyo. Even stars are dying and being reborn under the workings of what the combination ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’ represents. Nam, or Namu - which mean the same thing, are vibrational passwords or keys that allow us to reach deep into our life and fuse with or become one with ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’.
On a more personal level, nothing ever happens by chance or coincidence, it’s the causes that we’ve made in our past, or are presently making, that determine how these laws function uniquely in each of our lives - as well as the environment from moment to moment. By facing east, in harmony with the direction that the Earth is spinning, and chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo for a minimum of, let’s say, ten minutes daily to start with, any of us can experience actual proof of its positive effects in our lives - even if it only makes us feel good on the inside, there will be a definite positive effect. That’s because we’re able to pierce through the thickest layers of our karma and activate our inherent Buddha Nature (our enlightened state). By so doing, we’re then able to bring forth the wisdom and good fortune that we need to challenge, overcome and change our adverse circumstances - turn them into positive ones - or manifest and gain even greater fulfilment in our daily lives from our accumulated good karma. This also allows us to bring forth the wisdom that can free us from the ignorance and stupidity that’s preventing us from accepting and being proud of the person that we indeed are - regardless of our race, colour, gender or sexuality. We’re also able to see and understand our circumstances and the environment far more clearly, as well as attract and connect with any needed external beneficial forces and situations. As I’ve already mentioned, everything is subject to the law of Cause and Effect - the ‘actual-proof-strength’ resulting from chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo always depends on our determination, sincerity and dedication.
For example, the levels of difference could be compared to making a sound on a piano, creating a melody, producing a great song, and so on. Something else that’s very important to always respect and acknowledge is that the Law (or if you prefer God) is in everyone and everything.
NB: There are frightening and disturbing sounds, and there are tranquil and relaxing sounds. It’s the emotional result of any noise or sound that can trigger off a mood or even instantly change one. When chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo each day, we are producing a sound vibration that’s the password to our true inner-self - this soon becomes apparent when you start reassessing your views on various things - such as your fears and desires etc. The best way to get the desired result when chanting is not to view things conventionally - rather than reaching out to an external source, we need to reach into our own lives and bring our needs and desires to fruition from within - including the good fortune and strength to achieve any help that we may need. Chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo also reaches out externally and draws us towards, or draws towards us, what we need to make us happy from our environment. For example, it helps us to be in the right place at the right time - to make better choices and decisions and so forth. We need to think of it as a seed within us that we’re watering and bringing sunshine to for it to grow, blossom and bring forth fruit or flowers. It’s also important to understand that everything we need in life, including the answer to every question and the potential to achieve every dream, already exists within us.
Observing your surroundings and inner intuition. I
A fair summary of the quest for God, humans trying to make sense of their existences. Questions associated with religion: Do I matter? Why do I exist at all? Why do I suffer? As long as this questions have not been properly answer, there will be religion. Science, even though it has accomplished a lot, behaves often as tyrannical religion, telling us what is orthodox belief, even though they are just guessing. Anyhow, I'm delighted for this video that at least puts the spot light on religion, further thinking is required.
The imagination that we are eternal, and with begining and without end.
I like the paradox part. 👌
Many geneticists believe that there is a religious gene - I think that would explain a lot
I agree!
Religious belief is caused by two of our problems: there are scary things in this world that we can't control, and we know that. So it's comforting to believe in a power that can control those things and that might be inclined to help us if we ask nicely. God is that power, and religion is how we gain God's favour.
It’s all about ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), this part of brain is also responsible for believing! If it has electrical activity, then we believe, if not, suddenly God goes away for long holiday!!!
It’s all about Brain activities!
Time to Reason Humanity made 2 huge mistakes. We created Money And God and so we got stuck on this Paradise Planet which we are destroying! 2 fantasies which we care about and ignore reality!
In my opinion, the fear of death is one of the reasons. Since the beginning of time, people have sought for ways to achieve immortality, or at least, to live as long as possible. Eventually they learned that biological immortality is not possible. Religions fill this need nicely with the promise of eternal life after death.
Totally agree!
While that might have some truth too it it doesn't explain. Athiest that. Have changed there mind about there being a god and afterlife.
I like it your comment @ Dt
Much of the earliest religious beliefs we know about did *not* have pleasant beliefs about the afterlife. More plausible for people today, but not a great theory for its origins.
What simplistic explanations ! Innate spiritual (rather than religious) belief is universal even though this may be sublimated by overriding conventional religious rituals or dogmas. (Or perhaps even by intellectual arrogance).
Spiritual understanding has little to do with wishful thinking or indoctrination but rather by an inner awareness of the true nature of life.
Unfortunately, for some, materialism gives a kind of three dimensional sense of security. Rather like not daring to look outside the box because there might be something there that contradicts one's mental construct. Now that would be frightening wouldn't it!
Yes once upon a time that question was very mysterious. But now we know what causes that malady. It's simple. In my case i was put into a parochial primary school where Christian doctrine was ubiquitous. I'm sure other folks were introduced to their own beliefs in similar ways. Immersion in an environment that supports such indoctrination. No matter what the particular flavor, brand, persuasion, or ethnicity. And once exposed as a youth . . . such conditioning becomes more and more difficult to undo as we get older. Difficult but not impossible. Critical thinking and the trials of life can help set us straight.
Fear of death, childhood indoctrination and good old wishful thinking.
snukkelpuppie Short and to the point. Good statement. I would only add in guilt.
Just as atheists thinking that from an explosión comes out a working clock with sufficient time.
All believers is logically atheist about others fairy tales belief
A ML And theists think it was magic. Religions just try to explain one mystery with another made up mystery. How is that any kind of explanation?
“I don't want to believe. I want to know.” Carl Sagan
How Our Brain Creates Delusion Of God. In this documentary, narrated by the author of the book Phantom of the Brain - V Ramachandran explains the case of a man suffering from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy(TLE).
God is Santa for grown ups
More accurately, the flying spaghetti monster is Santa for atheists
@@-JSLAK 😂😂
I'm sick of antireligionists attempting to reduce religion to "wrong facts". There is a lot more to it, it is a realm of human expression, and if you get rid of religion, you will lose your language.
Thanks
Thank you for this episode of "Closer to Truth". What I feel was missing,though, was the original development of explanations for phenomena which generated fear in humans. I'm referring to natural phenomena the causes of which humans were ignorant and which generated fear such as death, thunder, lightening, wind, etc. Such entities represented danger to humans causing them to invent ways to reduce the danger. Humans invented gods to placate in order
to make life safer.
As a result there were many "gods" to make happy in order to decrease danger until the epiphany of
only one god. I believe that there is no place in the brain that is necessary to need religion. Fear and ignorance are the causes. Knowledge and power eliminate the need for a god. Ever since I was a child, I have believed that eventually,
religion would disappear as people learned more and more though, as I see now, perhaps we will never learn enough to get there except to get closer and "closer to truth".
@S Gloobal A personal powerful God is highly complex to describe precisely.
There is no evidence for such a God compared to models without God.
By the scientific method (linking complexity to likelihood of consistent models) it is very very very unlikely that there is a personal powerful God.
This is the highest form of "proof" possible for a statement about the real world.
@Time to Reason Your statement that "People who left religions live better loving..." is very interesting and necessitates more questions.
The thought at the end seems fine, if God is the creator of nature then it would seem to us that the law of nature is the only law. God´s law in his creation, in nature would be the paradigm that veils us from god himself. But there is also a missing link , why so chaotic.
@S Gloobal
Even at the beginning complete misunderstanding.
If God is not determined to do exactly the actions (then God would only be a physical law) described by a small set of axioms, to describe a model with God precisely, every possible action (done or not) of God in the world would have to be incoded into the model. Massive amount of complexity.
This is the mathematical form of simplicity required for the scientific method (Ockham learning strategy: the simplest consistent model - the only possible strategy to approximate the truth by a mathematical theorem).
ps: Your sources can't be more biased and less scientific.
@S Gloobal I will not read the rest of the comment.
Your comment is not a well thought out reasoning but instead a rhetorical mumbo jumbo (judging from the first part).
Not worth anyone's time.
social inequality that makes most of us believed religions.
The question is simple and, at the same time, decisive: how to differentiate between FAITH in a god and IMAGINATION that there is such a god??
With respect, the informations, released , it’s not for the reason to the people to believe something, but it’s to think !
For a big clame, big prof is needed. If we duplicate a "miracle" then it's not a miracle.
I can talk for myself 😊
I need to be free from slavery to mind.
Mind is source of all suffering but, it has the ability to free us from suffering if we use it correctly
@Time to Reason partially correct
Mind in not what we are. It arises from Self but, gets distracted by fake world. When we carefully observe to find the source of mind, it disappears into Self. That is state of Nirvana. Thoughtless state. Self and God are realised to be identical in that state.
Ignorance, hunger, loneliness and a fear of drowning [in all three].
Fear. And ignorance. Period.
My bit of speculation: Either the universe is intentional or it is not. Surprising and astonishing facts about the un-likelyness of our existence (many of those discussed in this channel) or simply the beauty of the world triggers ourselves to search for explanation. Frankly: the richness of open questions tenderly pushes me towards a belief in an intentional universe... Even in our fine tuned universe there would be plenty of possibilities to burn all free energy without letting consciousness arise. Am I wrong?
Something that I feel has helped me to form my world view is to give leeway to properties that are vastly greater than human scales. For example, I can intellectually know that something is 1 billion years old or 100 light years away but I can't intuitively grasp what these properties feel like. If I know that cells can mutate over the course of years and then apply unfathomable timescales to that, it does make it at least plausible that a lump of goo could eventually evolve into a human brain.
Now the next mind bender is to ask what it means if the universe is infinite, or part of a multiverse, that just eternally keeps rearranging matter. For me it means that anything that could happen, will happen, no matter how unlikely. Also, as the Anthropic principle states, it is not a conincident that we, as conscious life, find ourselves in a place and time where conditions allow for conscious life.
This video is the example of when a presupposition is confused with a conclusion. You start from the postulate that the world is mechanical and of no need to sustaining then you conclude that the world is mechanical. Voilà!
if god is real! Do you really think God wants you to pray for him ? to do all this cinema ! all the music and festival! I don't know I am not a god but if I were a god ! I would tell everyone . enjoy life and be nice to all being animals, human, that's it don t waste your time !
@S Gloobal could you elaborate ?
"if god is real" he would know the best for his creation. Knowing that prayer and meditation are essential fr the human psyche (I'm not Christian)
Thank god you are just poop on this earth
By stimulating the visual cortex area one can become more or less sensitive to light, but nobody concludes from that that light is based in the brain.
Drives for curiosity is a very simplistic way to explain the desire and innate search for the transcendent. Curiosity, need for explanation, and search for patterns are not the reason why we are religious. We could claim that those behaviors are a result of our being religious and not the other way around. None of those characteristics are necessary for survival and reproduction. The reason must lie beyond an evolutionary explanation.
I don't defend any _particular_ conception of God, as represented by the different religions. But I do identify a couple of things common to all the major religions that I _do_ "believe" in, in a generic sense, which give me _the essential thing valued_ which all the major religions offer to their believers, and I get this without subscribing to any particular conceptualization of God.
Religions exist because people die and we want to understand what that is all about: why we die and what _it_ (the fact that we die) tells us about our present life experience that could/should matter to us. Does it tell us something about our current existence that we should care about? But perhaps the biggest question we ask about death is _does the death of our bodies mean that we Minds will cease to exist for all time?_
It's a big question because of the implications of any answer we might come up with. If when our bodies die we thinking things cease to exist forever, then it cannot possibly matter what we end up doing with our lives, whether we were A Living Saint or a terrifying Mass Murderer. Once you die--under this assumption--it's not going to matter what you did in your life as a human, period. Were you evil? Why not?
ALL of the major religions answer these basic questions in the same basic way. They all say that 1) we continue to exist after our bodies die, and 2) what we do or don't do in this life _matters_ (will have an impact on our experience in the next life).
These are the two generic religious beliefs that I fully embrace. But that's _all_ I believe with any amount of certainty. If anyone asks me for any details about the Afterlife or what I do/don't believe about God, I don't have an answer for them. My answer is always the same: I don't know. But I do know enough to fully embrace the meaning I see in this life.
Various reasons are given for the appearance of religion along the lines of fear of this or that natural phenomenon or fear of death. But then what about the Japanese who have no such religion and as far as anyone knows, never did. Were they simply fearless?
The concept of God is etched in our minds brains and genetics weather we like it or not how we precieve it (God) depends on our own mental intellectual social and cultural environment hence the multiplicity of religions and ideas regarding God .
You need to work continuously both
intellectually and morally to believe
otherwise against your grain barring
Some exceptions.
The attribution of intention and agency to forces unseen and beyond comprehension. Like that fleeting instant where stub your toe and you attribute malignant intention to an inanimate object. An evolutionary tic that comforts and explains...
My theory is that humans long ago needed not only to explain natural phenomena but also to counter depression after losing a loved one.
Based on your concluding criteria of a "god", what difference does it make if there's a god ?
What is religion?
To me it is like this:-
There is one thing that is directly obvious - I exist, I feel, and so on. (INSIDE)
There is other thing that is obvious by the virtue of direct perception - There are others like me, also there are things. (OUTSIDE)
The brain somehow believes that there's something that encompasses both of the above. (ALL-AROUND)
Religion is a set of ideas, doctrines, rituals that reconciles all three.
P. S: I am not religious.
P. P. S: is that even possible, to be not religious?
I like how you write about it. Much better than simplistic “comfort”, “bainwashing”, “money”, ... Religion comes from searching for truth and attempts to develop a coherent system that explains what we percieve and helps navigate our human condition.
5:40 I have a (possibly) quick question, Doc, if you don't mind..?
Thank you! So...
Have there been any tests done where,
1. the temporal lobe was "shut down", be it chemically, or by the direct or indirect application of electrical current, or by some other means; AND,
2. there was testing of the phenomenon of experiencing (or not experiencing) a "presence" via some other possible route? And, finally;
3. If so, what was shown...or implicated...IOW, To where did the data point us, if at all?
Again, thank you!
Go Bluejays!
🙂
...someone said Religion Destroys Spirituality. I couldn't agree more...
Robert Sapolsky says in his religiosity lecture for Stanford Lecture Series on human behaviorology says Religion is from Shamenism which most Shamen's have Schizotypalism. People with Schizotypalism are usually a siblilings of people with Schizophrenia. Schizotypalism is quantifiable.
Beliefs, whether religious or secular, are part of human essence. It is part of his design. As some would view it, it is a categorical imperative. The belief in the divine or supreme being is imprinted in man's DNA. The question is, which belief is The Truth?
Primary cause: Childhood indoctrination
@Androva J.
He is just an agitated, fundamentalist going on a rant defending his faith, dogma, god (whoever the god may be) and the messenger. Just ignore. They will never answer to simple direct questions. They know how to twist and go tap dancing avoiding scrutiny.
@S Gloobal There's a planet in the Andromeda galaxy, inhabited by gummi bears. One of them has a son, who you can ask for guidance in life. Just close your eyes and speak to him. If you do not believe me, it is because you have been indoctrinated not to do so. Do you believe in elfs and fairies? If not, you have been indoctrinated. Do you believe in Poseidon? Thor? Brahma? You need to take a good look at your sense of logic, my friend.
Your hypothesis can even be proven statistically..... if a religious person tells me where they grew up as a child I can predict their religion within a 98% confidence interval.
@S Gloobal Ah you believe in the god of the gaps, I see. Not too much shame in that. It had been the common practice for millennia, beginning with all the creation myths of the world’s many religions: “We don’t know how all this came to be - so let’s come up with a story and point to magic.” And “we don’t know why the people of the World speak many different languages - let’s make up a story about that as well.”
I’m glad I mentioned Thor already. He was our (I’m Danish) god of thunder. “We do not understand this phenomenon in the sky - it must be the work of a god.” We had our Thunder God, and you have your Big Bang God.
Well, you are in good company, my friend. Even Newton, when he reached his limits concerning the many bodies problem, invoked God to adjust the clockwork of the heavens. Later on the problem was solved, and “God” had to be put into the next pocket of ignorance.
Well, a better way to go, is to let go of the fear of the sentence “I don’t know (yet)” instead of invoking magic at the horizon of our current knowledge. That is the starting point in order to gain new knowledge.
Also, you do not explain anything by invoking a god, because you are left with the task of explaining ‘him’.
@S Gloobal You put ‘God’ in place of our lack of knowledge - that is the god of the gaps argument.
Now you are even speaking of “a prime mover” - yet another example of the god of the gaps arguments.
Why would you need a 'prime mover'? And why would you just come up with a figment of your imagination and state that it does not need an explanation? Everything could have existed forever in different forms of matter and energi. There is no need for your magic friend. But you just put him in without any evidence in an attempt to discredit further scientific studies. I feel so sorry for you, but you seem pretty set in your ways, and of course I can’t help you, when you do not master logical reasoning. What good does your 'prime mover' even do, if there is nothing to move?
People who believe in "God" can get along fine, even feel commaderie. It's when they start to define that God that the knives come out. I once told a childhood neighbor, that based on his behavior, he didn't really love God. He got mad, "Yes I do!" .. and hit me. 😁
This one is easy: Fear!
rubiks6
Needs to be rephrased:
Love is the beginning of wisdom
Fear is destruction
One moves away from fear and moves towards order and love.
Fear is destructive.
Tom Anderson 81 by guiding you towards love it shows it’s conservative effect.
S Gloobal can’t disprove something that doesn’t exist
S Gloobal how about you tell me how there is an eternal god?
Khun looks more like Einstein in this video....
Einstein was handsome.
Human interaction and defining words. If you get words to contract themselves like a mirroring effect than you get a self defeating walk contradiction to profit from. Keep the marks coming back through fear and Evol love
I suggest that the main psychological impetus for the cause of religious belief is the absolute absurdity in thinking that the unfathomable order of the universe is a product of chance.
lol. So you don't understand how evolution by natural selection works. Sad.
@@publiusovidius7386
Sure, I’m all for evolution by natural selection.
However, before evolution could even begin to unfold, you have to explain how an alleged Big Bang dispersion of random and chaotic quantum phenomena managed to - blindly and mindlessly - equip the earth with every possible prerequisite ingredient necessary to awaken us into existence.
Do we need to crack open the vast volumes of the world’s encyclopedias to demonstrate what that would entail?
_______
@@TheUltimateSeeds lol. So? That would be easier to explain than the existence of a creator god, for whose existence there is no credible evidence. So there's that.
@@publiusovidius7386
If you think it's easier to explain, then explain it. I'm listening.
What causes belief?
Fear, desire. How can you believe in something you cannot prove?
Everyone believes in many things they cannot prove. Can you personally prove a black hole exists? Or do you rely on authorities? And then who told you what authorities to listen to?
ImperturbableLight Exorcist priest can prove God all the time meet with them and you will be cool.
To me this is why is so dificult for person to leave a religion, it it has social, political and family related inplications. Religion creates a bond with your social circles, it gives you a sense a belonging. When we are babies we have to believe in what our parents tells us false or true because our life and security depends on it, this perpetuates religious believes within families. There is no gods or godesses
I cannot tell the difference between someone that’s truly evil attempting to spread confusion, and yourself. Only you know the difference, if indeed there is one. Tapping intellectuals for evidence of spiritual truths is like asking politicians about life as a repressed citizen. You have to walk in the forest if you want to smell and feel the spirit of a forest.
What makes sense to you, you believe. It's all relative to the believer.
Although it makes little sense to me, I believe quantum mechanics is a thing.
Religion is a primitive description of reality, blocking the quest for the real description
Due U Exist NOW view SEE this with EARS www.eckancar.org Click HU www.fhu.com ? request MEDITATION suggested Be Still and know www.yahwehsnewkingdom.com Ask 4 Book "FREE" www.yahweh.com ask for Newsletter RELATED INFO czcams.com/users/oahspebible czcams.com/users/yahwaya2z www.hempabcdeals.biz Click Links 420+ shh AIRING
@S Gloobal your hearing is not that great...
@S Gloobal you are unable to distinguish a description from a question begging case.
It's a fact that religions and the supernatural we're our earlier unsuccessful attempts to explain nature and due to its comforting baggage it is still a huge obstacle for the education and critical thinking of many individuals and whole societies .
@S Gloobal " Science got started in ancient China; in ancient Egypt and Greece and Rome; and in Islam. But it never went anywhere. In those cultures, it sputtered and coughed and died."
-Thanks for sharing with us your ignorant beliefs...and thanks for using the technical applications of science to communicate them through this platform!
-"I’m not minimizing the immense contribution of geometry and mathematics from the Greeks, or Algebra from the Islamic world, or even Chinese Medicine (which is quite effective)"
-MAth and its branch of geometry are not Science mate....focus. They are logical tools that science uses in its methodologies.
-" But in those places science did not sustain momentum."
-Because they didn't know how to do science and most importantly nobody understood the epistemic value of naturalistic principles. (thanks for asking).
-"Why?Because those cultures did not have a theology to support it."
-You got it the other way around...lol. Because their philosophical principles were either theological or supernatural, they never managed to produce meaningful descriptions for their observations or their hypotheses.
-"Science rests on faith that the universe is governed by fixed, discoverable laws. "
-No science rest on specific standards of evaluation and logic. Our observations and evaluations point to those observable laws. Again you are assuming that our conclusions are part of science presumptions, which is a factually wrong claim.
-" That it operates without the need for constant intervention by the creator and that the creation has a degree of freedom to follow its own course."
-Well since science is based on logic, we need to verify the assumption of an agent or a supernatural substance intervening in a observable system with a causal role. If you can demonstrate that type of causal agent...then you are in trouble with Logic (Null Hypothesis, burden of proof, demarcation, parsimony)...not with science.
Science standards are set by logic mate. again Sorry that you ignore such fundamental rules !
-"Islam does not teach this; Greek and Roman mythology did not teach this, and neither did the Egyptian or Eastern religions."
-Sure all religions and philosophical views with supernatural principles don't teach that and all have something in common. Did you guess it......here it is Epistemic failure.
None of those views has ever provided our epistemology with a single case of a framework with knowledge value that we can act upon and produce further knowledge and wise claims about reality....again sorry.
-"Wisdom of Solomon 11:21, which was written ~2,200 years ago, says, “Thou hast ordered all things in weight and number and measure.” This is found in the apocrypha, i.e. the books of the Catholic Bible."
-I am really happy that you enjoyed that book...when you reach the age of 13th you can consider adding some more books in your list....
_"In Islam, the will of Allah is absolute and the world functions according to His inscrutable purposes. In Roman and Greek theology, thunder and lightning occurred because one deity was at war with another. Aristotle’s claim that heavier objects would fall faster was often repeated but almost never tested - even though anyone could easily stand on a chair and put his theory to the test."
-I agree non scientific views still remain epistemically useless and irrelevant to our understanding on how the world works.
-"Chinese mysticism similarly provided no grounds for an orderly, mechanistic universe."
-This is why the Chinese were the first with a space program or why they still consider wild meat as aphrodisiac(with all the know consequences for global health) .......
Why all of their mysticists failed to inform them for the covid thread...I wonder lol
-"Atheism offers no outside framework for assuming the universe is orderly either; "
-lol ....last time I checked, Atheism is just the position: " I am not convinced of your god claims since they are not supported by objective and sufficient evidence".
So atheism is not a framework for the order of nature mate...Its a single position on an irrational supernatural claim.
-"both ancient and modern, assume it’s all a big giant accident."
-You will need to talk to them. In my opinion we can not talk about any accident. We don't know whether the cosmos characteristics render the emergence of universes something inevitable or a product of an accident. I think it is arrogant to talk about things that you don't understand or know.
-"You can see this attitude in the now-discredited “Junk DNA” theory, as well as theories that invoke trillions of “junk universes” and “junk multiverses” invoked to make the fine tuning of this universe look like an accident.''
-lol congratulations you managed to blend parts of a biological molecule and cosmology in a nonsensical argument in favor of your magical belief....good luck providing objective evidence for that theoretical ectroma you just produced...lol
-"The above notions are explicitly anti-scientific propositions."
-No the multiverse and the cosmos is a pretty educated scientific hypotheses.
Here is some academic material. It will help you understand the size of your ignorance when ti comes to judge scientific metaphysics.
czcams.com/video/chsLw2siRW0/video.html&t=
czcams.com/video/dr6nNvw55C4/video.html
-"Only in Christian Europe was there a basis for believing that a search for discoverable laws would be richly rewarded.'
-This is why Christian churches burned scientists at the stake(Giordano Bruno)and imprisoned Galileo?
Its like saying Feudalism was the cause of scientific thinking. You are just proposing stupid claims. Science was a revolution of thought triggered by the Aristotle's work on the systematization of logic and philosophical inquiry, hitting the continent of Europe, when christianity happened to be the dominant social organization system.
None of the supernatural principles of CHristianity or dogmas ever became part of science dude...how old are you? don't you ever check the rubbish your priest tells you?lol
-"And it’s no coincidence that a large number of the great scientists - Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Maxwell, Boyle - were deeply religious and considered the practice of science to be an act of worship. "
-No coincidence there at all! They all grew up in a highly indoctrinated environment, so they didn't have a choice. What is not conscience for sure is that none of their works are based on religious or supernatural principles. They all produce descriptive frameworks on Naturalistic principles and empirical standards...how do you explain that mate?
-"A way of peering into the very mind of God."
-Last time I looked at our academic epistemology, the mind of god is not mentioned anywhere mate...only in your delusional thoughts.
@S Gloobal So its a fact.
Revolutions happen within failing establishments and they finally overturn them.
Science came and brought an end to religious regimes in Europe.
A no win situation in my experience. We have no hope of discovering our true purpose or living a meaningful amount of time if we are just big bugs. If there was a God well it would be great, a fair person (like a super being) to serve graciously for all eternity in a state of bliss. If that's the honest deal where do I sign?
The first structure known to have ever been built by human beings was Göbekli Tepe. It is a temple complex constructed by hunter-gatherers around a skull cult c. 12,000-10,000 years ago, way before agriculture and civilisation emerged. Thus, religious beliefs are primary and arise as a set of reactions to the fact of death... like everything else that follows.
Source: www.archaeology.org/issues/281-1801/features/6165-turkey-neolithic-skull-cult
God proves himself to those who are truly commited.
The cause? Fear, ego, the desire to be led, or the desire for power and control. We assume humans are the most advanced, wondrous creatures in existence, so of course the universe was made for us. We’re so special, it’s easy for religious leaders to convince us that we will exist for eternity in some wondrous place in the Great Beyond. Film at 11:00.
...I knew a devout female catholic in Italy. She was British and in her 40's. With six children and one on the way. She nearly died in pregnancy because it was going against God's plan. However, this same woman was on a dating site and had over a dozen different lovers. Her husband was very aware and I'd bet that some of the kids are not his. They are both deeply religious.
Religious belief is justified because we are in need from every aspect of life. And especially when facing death of one’s own and his loved ones.
A device that reveals the sensitivity of faith in the development of Darwin and the multiverse. If you question this worship, there is no doubt that you will be expelled by the multiple gods of atheism. This bloody struggle opposes and supports freedom.
I hope if we eventually populate another planet we exclude religion from it. Imagine the prosperity of a society with only those who do what that the evidence bests suggests.
@@aaronclarke7732 well if that doesn't happen then I hope atleast one day my dad comes back from the corner store.
Few terms are confused here: the title of this episode should be: What causes, (what's the origin of) spirituality? Also, there isn't, or shouldn't be, a belief in religion. Religion is, or it should be, just a means of expression one's spirituality.
I love these videos, but there is always something off about the sound grrr
Because we are not able to answer the unanswered questions that have been questioned since the beginning of time
I would say that there is a difference between religion and spirituality. Some people live by the word and not so much the spirit, while others live by the spirit and less by the word.
A vacuum of knowledge and indoctrination!
Surely you mean "A vacuum of knowledge and (an abundance of) indoctrination" ?
S Gloobal No, religion is not “false”, it’s all 100% real. All 4,200 of them. Just like if your mom & dad named you say “Timothy”, that’s real, just like all the other hundreds of thousands that were named Timothy. Never let someone or any “knowledge” tell you that your name is “false”. 😉
S Gloobal 😀 Why are you attributing the word “false” to any of my commentary, when, where, did I invoke it or evoke it (except when responding to you) ?
S Gloobal People are indeed indoctrinated; but that doesn’t mean that they don’t believe. You were told what your name was, since you were an infant, you were indoctrinated that your is, what your name is; hence, you believe that that is what your name is.
S Gloobal You can find literature to support whatever you want to believe, including that Earth is flat, Moon landing was fake, 9/11 was an inside job, the Roswell sightings have evolved over the years to keep credulous impressionable people captivated.
The world is not about what is true, it’s about what can you get people to believe. And it sounds like you have made up your mind, it’s perhaps encoded in your brain. And I have no particular impetus to alter it. 😀
ABSOLUTELY, EVERY THING IS CREATED FOR A PURPOSE, TILL IT ALL ENDS, ALL THAT WE SEE AROUND US, AND CANNOT SEE, BUT WE SEE AND FEEL WITH OUR SENSES, ABOVE ALL OUR OWN CONCIOUSNESS IS AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE, TELLING US NOTHING IS AUTOMATIC, THERE IS A CREATOR, GOD, AND THERE IS A PURPOSE.
JUDGE, EVERY THING IS CREATED FOR A PURPOSE FOR A LIMITED TIME THERE IS A CREATOR, GOD, NO CONFUSSION.
A wise man ( Paul Brunton ) once said that Organized Religion was created for the Masses. Those unable or unwilling to think for themselves.
Every student knows a wise man. Does one truly think of themselves solely their lifetime without any outside human interaction?Is every thought or dream solely your own conjured? To deny your spiritual conscience is to deny your humanism.
@5:30 "...Science can never disprove God. It's not a falsifiable question..." Science cannot logically prove nonexistence. For science to prove that God does not exist would require omniscience. In other words, science would have to have the very ability of all-knowing God to disprove the non-existence of all-knowing God…
Science is not meant to disprove god but rather research the World we live in. Science needs evidences , patterns, discoveries, crazie scientists , but God is just about our faith and only that. Science has no power to disprove God.
@wim develder And you're going to listen to and believe every jerk on the planet Earth? Congratulations. You've just disproved the existence of a brain where you should have one. !!! Keep it up and I'm sure your kids will be proud of you!
Projecting parental imagoes onto the unknown. Children pass through a stage where parents have magical powers. Religious people remain fixated in that stage.
@@rubiks6 Many kids are afraid of atheist synthetic purity and introverted violence, so they seek shelter in religious sects.
@@rubiks6 lol. Psychological regression to infantile states is common.
@@xspotbox4400 lol. They prefer the organized killing in the name of various deities. Got it.
@@rubiks6 Well, you can choose friends.
@@publiusovidius7386 How is death penalty any different?
People are predisposed to causality. How our minds work. Even ridiculous propositions are believable to many, just look at variety of religions, philosophies and politics people accept as truth totally at odds with other. Nothing like having choices.
Personally, I don't think people choose their beliefs. I tend to think that I could likely believe any religion if I had the exact same upbringing as the people of that religion, and likely, any religious person with my upbringing would end up atheist. Sure, there are some biological differences between people, and that likely makes soke difference, but we also don't choose our biology.
I pose a challenge to Dr. Kuhn: Dr. Kuhn - you have been searching for answers to many questions about the world, the universe and the nature a/o existence of G-d. You are trained in science and know that one of the key requirements for the success of a theory, is its ability to successfully predict results. I propose to you, that, if you are sincerely interested in discovering the truth of the G-d hypothesis, you would do well to, at a minimum, conduct an experiment that might help you gain some knowledge about it - how it works, what are the benefits, and what truths, either deductively or inductively, etc... You have often expressed that you would be delighted to discover the truth of G-d's existence. Your own ancestral religion is Judaism - and so, I suggest that you spend some time - perhaps a year or so, in complete observance of the laws and rituals of your religion. In other words, try it - and maybe you will like it. I know that you often say that you don't merely want what feels good if it is not truthful - and I think that's fine. Perhaps, you will only discover an inductive basis for religion - that is, living a religious life will reveal it's "truth" - or even its utility. My point is - religion (particularly Judaism) is experiential in the main - not merely conceptual and subject to philosophical or scientific analysis. If I wanted to convince you of how tasty chocolate ice cream is - I certainly would not engage you in a discussion about its properties, but I would insist that you taste it, and see if that works for you. Religion may be just that type of experience. Now lest you say that is not enough support for belief - well I would remind you that you have interviewed many important scholars who have presented you with many very cogent, coherent and profound ideas in support of religion, so it's not as though there is no reasonable basis for belief. Perhaps not absolute proof, but who says that is what the Creator wants to show us? We make all of our most consequential life choices without absolute certainty as to the right way to proceed through life. Why should a choice to live a religious life be different? Let me leave you with one thought that came to me while debating an atheist, which actually caused him to take up my challenge. I reflected that there are 3 possible responses to the question of the existence of G-d: One can select atheism - one can select theism, and one can choose agnosticism. The problem is that there are only 2 choices for a person to take in terms of observance (particularly in the case of Judaism) which requires the observance of a great many laws and commandments. When sunset, Friday night comes, a person must choose to observe or not to observe. There are only 2 possibilities of action against 3 possibilities of belief. This is a serious asymmetry. It is an interesting fact that almost all "agnostics" choose not to observe. And why is that? I won't discuss the psychology of this phenomenon now, but it is quite interesting. At a minimum, I think it reveals a clear bias and non intellectual factor in one's choice. There is quite a lot to do - many obligations that one incurs in living a religious life - and frankly, most people don't want to make the effort or challenge one's own inclinations that may require one to temper "doing their own thing". To put it bluntly, there is just too much stuff one has to do (particularly as an orthodox Jew). In fact, I would say that, in the debate between the theist and the atheist - the theist starts out way ahead in objectivity. Why? Because the atheist has a clear and strong interest in avoiding having to do all this stuff. It seems to me a sincere agnostic should observe - and that is what I suggest for you, Dr. Kuhn. I respect very much your honesty about expressing your desire for G-d to truly exist - I think that is the only healthy position, intellectually. I am highly suspicious of atheists who proclaim that they don't want there to be a G-d who is benevolent and would be the ground of all being - explaining all things for us. Let me leave it there for now. I would be delighted if someone reading my words, is able to convey this to Dr. Kuhn. And tell him that I have enjoyed his Closer to Truth program for a few years now.
Nicely written.
Our lives need meaning! Physics may be correct, but is barren. There must be more.
Easy answer for hard question
Religious belief is not the effect of a cause. It is the destination in search of Truth, one way to reach it is by rejecting falsehood it requires criteria for judgement which was revealed in Islam. No other religion were able to say that religion is responsible to see the judgement served correctly because they had not received the criteria for judgement at their time. But in 2001 Jesus said " I am one of the followers of Islam ". There you have it.
As always, there is no answer in the end!
I wish you could meet with every exorcist priest in the world at last the answers would come.
I’m surprised no one mentioned Carl Jung and his brilliant theory of the collective unconscious in which he postulated that Homo sapiens are instinctively religious and it presents in the form of symbols and myths and archetypes.
Religion is a shortcut in search of knowledge.
Science is a saner and more humble route.