11 Jun 13
-Removed-The evidence came in the form of functional MRI's, it was shown on the program Through the Wormhole I believe. It shows different areas of the brain activated by believers, when praying for instance, vs non believers.
We can see the results of experiments with chimps that pretty much proves they have no theory of mind, that is, they can't comprehend the other person or chimp they are looking at is a thinking being like themselves. One experiment that gave evidence to that was first conducted on a 4 or 5 yo girl, where she was told to put on these two sunglasses, one opaque and the other dark but you could see through them. Then in front of her, they took those glasses and put them on two people and then the girl was told to ask for candy which was in the hands of the two people. So she immediately went to the person who was wearing the transparent glasses instead of the ones where they were painted over. They asked her why she chose the one she did, she said, He can see!
So the same thing with a chimp, put both glasses on him, one after another and he could not see through one but could through the other, then same thing, took the glasses in front of him, put them on the two people with candy in their hands and this time, trial after trial showed the chimp randomly selected the hands with candy with no regard for the fact one of the people could not see the chimp.
This was strong evidence for a lack of 'theory of mind', which says the chimp did not realize there was a mind behind those eyes.
Of course there could be other explanations but Occams razor says the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
12 Jun 13
It is interesting that humans, when beliefs change, simply apply the same religious fervor to another belief system. There seems to be no civilization which ever "changed" their beliefs from theist to non-theist. Even when a government, such as the old USSR, endorsed Atheism it did little to change the peoples' theist beliefs. The "need" for something to believe in seems almost programmed into our DNA.
12 Jun 13
Originally posted by caissad4Seems some of the European countries have adopted healthy levels of skepticism.
It is interesting that humans, when beliefs change, simply apply the same religious fervor to another belief system. There seems to be no civilization which ever "changed" their beliefs from theist to non-theist. Even when a government, such as the old USSR, endorsed Atheism it did little to change the peoples' theist beliefs. The "need" for something to believe in seems almost programmed into our DNA.
12 Jun 13
Originally posted by caissad4Perhaps it is. There are many other things programmed in the DNA. Maybe that is why beavers build dams, bees build hives, birds build nests, etc.
It is interesting that humans, when beliefs change, simply apply the same religious fervor to another belief system. There seems to be no civilization which ever "changed" their beliefs from theist to non-theist. Even when a government, such as the old USSR, endorsed Atheism it did little to change the peoples' theist beliefs. The "need" for something to believe in seems almost programmed into our DNA.
The Instructor
12 Jun 13
Originally posted by RJHindsSo according to you, atheists have bad genes and those bad genes need to be culled from the gene pool. Perhaps with targeted euthanasia? Or would you just prefer genetic engineering to weed out the evil atheist gene?
Perhaps it is. There are many other things programmed in the DNA. Maybe that is why beavers build dams, bees build hives, birds build nests, etc.
The Instructor
12 Jun 13
Originally posted by sonhouseI do not know enough about the genes to know the answer to that question. I'll have to exclude that from my instruction program for now.
So according to you, atheists have bad genes and those bad genes need to be culled from the gene pool. Perhaps with targeted euthanasia? Or would you just prefer genetic engineering to weed out the evil atheist gene?
The Instructor