On the nature and origin of religion
I love this stuff. Very interesting. I've recently come across a lot of material that eloquently communicates my thoughts...
One problem that I have found is that “God” means many things to many people, and the use of loaded words full of unspoken, hidden symbolism only clouds the issue. To clarify this problem somewhat, I have found it useful to distinguish carefully between two types of means for the word “God.” It is sometimes helpful to differentiate between the God of Miracles and the God of Order.
When scientists use the word “God,” they usually mean the God of Order. ... Throughout [Einstein’s] career, he clung to the belief that a mysterious, divine Order existed in the universe. … Einstein repeatedly referred to this God in his writings, fondly calling him “The Old Man.” … Most scientists, it is safe to say, believe that there is some from of cosmic Order in the universe. However, to the nonscientist, the word “God” almost universally refers to the God of Miracles.... The God of Miracles intervenes in our affairs, performs miracles, destroys wicked cities, smites enemy armies, drowns the Pharaoh’s troops, and avenges the pure and noble. ...[T]he foundation of science is based on observing reproducible events, but miracles, by definition, are not reproducible. … Therefore, the God of Miracles is, in some sense, beyond what we know as science. This is not to say that miracles cannot happen, only that they are outside what is commonly called “science.”
Biologist Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University has puzzled over this question and asked whether there is any scientific reason why humans cling so fiercely to their religion. Even trained scientists, he found, who are usually perfectly rational about their scientific specialization, lapse into irrational arguments to defend their religion. Furthermore, he observes, religion has been used historically as a cover to wage hideous wars and perform unspeakable atrocities against infidels and heathens. The sheer ferocity of religious or holy wars, in fact, rivals the worst crimes that any human has ever committed against any other.
Religion, notes Wilson, is universally found in every human culture ever studied on earth. Anthropologists have found that all primitive tribes have an “origin” myth that explains where they came from. Furthermore, this mythology sharply separates “us” from “them,” provides a cohesive (and often irrational) force that preserves the tribe, and suppresses divisive criticism of the leader.
This is not an aberration, but the norm of human society. Religion, Wilson theorizes, is so prevalent because it provided a definite evolutionary advantage for those early humans who adopted it. Wilson notes that animals that hunt in packs obey the leader because a pecking order based on strength and dominance has been established. But roughly 1 million years ago, when our apelike ancestors gradually became more intelligent, individuals could rationally begin to question the power of their leader. Intelligence, by its very nature questions authority by reason, and hence could be a dangerous, dissipative force on the tribe. Unless there was a force to counteract this spreading chaos, intelligent individuals would leave the tribe, the tribe would fall apart, and all individuals would eventually die. Thus, according to Wilson, a selection pressure was placed on intelligent apes to suspend reason and blindly obey the leader and his myths, since doing otherwise would challenge the tribe’s cohesion. Survival favored the intelligent ape who could reason rationally about tools and food gathering, but also favored the one who could suspend that reason when it threatened the tribe’s integrity. A mythology was needed to define and preserve the tribe.
To Wilson, religion was a very powerful, life-preserving force for apes gradually becoming more intelligent, and formed a “glue” that held them together. If correct, this theory would explain why so many religions rely on “faith” over common sense, and why the flock is asked to suspend reason. It would also help to explain the inhuman ferocity of religious wars, and why the God of Miracles always seems to favor the victor in a bloody war. The God of Miracles explains the mythology of our purpose in the universe; on this question, the God of Order is silent.
Hyperspace
Michio Kaku
One problem that I have found is that “God” means many things to many people, and the use of loaded words full of unspoken, hidden symbolism only clouds the issue. To clarify this problem somewhat, I have found it useful to distinguish carefully between two types of means for the word “God.” It is sometimes helpful to differentiate between the God of Miracles and the God of Order.
When scientists use the word “God,” they usually mean the God of Order. ... Throughout [Einstein’s] career, he clung to the belief that a mysterious, divine Order existed in the universe. … Einstein repeatedly referred to this God in his writings, fondly calling him “The Old Man.” … Most scientists, it is safe to say, believe that there is some from of cosmic Order in the universe. However, to the nonscientist, the word “God” almost universally refers to the God of Miracles.... The God of Miracles intervenes in our affairs, performs miracles, destroys wicked cities, smites enemy armies, drowns the Pharaoh’s troops, and avenges the pure and noble. ...[T]he foundation of science is based on observing reproducible events, but miracles, by definition, are not reproducible. … Therefore, the God of Miracles is, in some sense, beyond what we know as science. This is not to say that miracles cannot happen, only that they are outside what is commonly called “science.”
Biologist Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University has puzzled over this question and asked whether there is any scientific reason why humans cling so fiercely to their religion. Even trained scientists, he found, who are usually perfectly rational about their scientific specialization, lapse into irrational arguments to defend their religion. Furthermore, he observes, religion has been used historically as a cover to wage hideous wars and perform unspeakable atrocities against infidels and heathens. The sheer ferocity of religious or holy wars, in fact, rivals the worst crimes that any human has ever committed against any other.
Religion, notes Wilson, is universally found in every human culture ever studied on earth. Anthropologists have found that all primitive tribes have an “origin” myth that explains where they came from. Furthermore, this mythology sharply separates “us” from “them,” provides a cohesive (and often irrational) force that preserves the tribe, and suppresses divisive criticism of the leader.
This is not an aberration, but the norm of human society. Religion, Wilson theorizes, is so prevalent because it provided a definite evolutionary advantage for those early humans who adopted it. Wilson notes that animals that hunt in packs obey the leader because a pecking order based on strength and dominance has been established. But roughly 1 million years ago, when our apelike ancestors gradually became more intelligent, individuals could rationally begin to question the power of their leader. Intelligence, by its very nature questions authority by reason, and hence could be a dangerous, dissipative force on the tribe. Unless there was a force to counteract this spreading chaos, intelligent individuals would leave the tribe, the tribe would fall apart, and all individuals would eventually die. Thus, according to Wilson, a selection pressure was placed on intelligent apes to suspend reason and blindly obey the leader and his myths, since doing otherwise would challenge the tribe’s cohesion. Survival favored the intelligent ape who could reason rationally about tools and food gathering, but also favored the one who could suspend that reason when it threatened the tribe’s integrity. A mythology was needed to define and preserve the tribe.
To Wilson, religion was a very powerful, life-preserving force for apes gradually becoming more intelligent, and formed a “glue” that held them together. If correct, this theory would explain why so many religions rely on “faith” over common sense, and why the flock is asked to suspend reason. It would also help to explain the inhuman ferocity of religious wars, and why the God of Miracles always seems to favor the victor in a bloody war. The God of Miracles explains the mythology of our purpose in the universe; on this question, the God of Order is silent.
Hyperspace
Michio Kaku