Lavamelon said:
Kristof81 said:
Here's my "gamified" take on humanity and religion:
- [default state] we are all born as atheists
- [basic skill] we all want to live. As a consequence, we're all afraid of death. Without this basic instinct, no complex life would be able to survive (not unique to humans)
- [basic skill] we have a need to explain our surroundings. We actively look for correlations, which we interpret as causations. This is called learning (not unique to humans)
- [class specific skill] due to human brain's complexity, we're capable of abstract thinking (most likely unique human trade)
Religion simply uses our skills to change the default state. This process is called indoctrination. If done during brain development period (childhood or adolescence), similarly to addictions or acquired certain mental or physical skills in that time, the change is permanent. This is why there isn't many people who become religious in adulthood if raised in atheistic family, and why majority of people who were raised in religious families and later in life became atheists, are agnostics.
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I am more religious than my parents are. My dad rarely goes to church, but my mother goes weekly. Either way, I am more religious than both of them combined.Â
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That's still the point. You were raised (like most of us) in religious beliefs, were an existence of a diety is treated as certain. This will stay at the back of your head forever, regardless of your future decisions or beliefs.
Because of our childhoods, there are actual reinforced neural pathways in your (and my) brain that cause very emotional connection to specific religions. That's why I don't believe in ridiculing anybody's faith (regardless of how absurd it might sound to me) as for you it's as real as the air you breathe. I know how it feels.
However, my point is that our religion as our choice, it's an illusion. In reality it was chosen for us, and escaping it is somewhere between hard and impossible.
Last edited by Kristof81 - on 27 June 2025
