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Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
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Author | Topic: What is the evolutionary advantage to religion? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
You know, Lam, you might want to think about what history is before you start criticizing the people of the past.
History produced YOU--this nice, open-minded young man with the great education, this 21st century paragon. It's not like knowledge started developing around 1985 or so. The people of the past made YOU. What you know is what they found out.
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coffee_addict Member (Idle past 498 days) Posts: 3645 From: Indianapolis, IN Joined: |
Tell me where I criticized the people in history.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Your last two posts.
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Phat Member Posts: 18299 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.1 |
Lam writes:
However, Deuteronomy indicates that the people were commanded to worship no image. God was and is a Spirit. Person A: What's fire?Person B: Um... uh... it must be beyond our comprehension. Person C: Hey, you're right. There must be a "supernatural being" of some sort to maintain the fire. Person A: Ok, let's all worship the fire "god". Deut 4:15-20=You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. In other words, worship the Spirit and not the universe, the technology, other "attractive" people such as movie stars...etc..Early religion was an idea of philosophy.I was stating my opinion that religion has an advantage over science and philosophy because it is easy to swallow and it justifies a lot of prejudice and hate that people tend to have. True enough that religion has been abused. I see human tendencies as proof of a fallen inner nature that no amount of evolution will ever fix. As for science and philosophy without religion, look at Nazi Germany to see the fruits of THAT logic. IMHO, anyway.
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Phat Member Posts: 18299 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.1 |
robin writes: And think about this: The people of the past made YOU. What you know is what they found out.Just as ancients in the jungle knew all about pharmacology by simply knowing which plants to use without being able to explain it So it is with spiritual encounters with God being passed down through oral tradition without need of quantification, Quantum Physics, mysticism, or any other of mans feeble attempts to intellectualize a spiritual experience. For some, Belief works. Whether from an internal reinforcement or an external impartation, science has as yet been unable to quantify what is certainly more than just daydreams and fantasies. I am not saying that the fundamentalists actually are right, but given the wide scope of the types of personalities and individuals who DO believe, and given the fact that religious experiences STILL gather followers, there must be a biological need for a Creator. This message has been edited by Phatboy, 12-31-2004 23:40 AM
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Shouldn't "Lord" be translated as "Yahweh"--the God of the mountain?
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PerfectDeath Inactive Member |
i don't consider religion as something to restrain our rights... it only developed into that.
religion is our ancestor's attempts at explaining something... were they stupid... well, yes only because they did not have the education we have ,but they sure as hell have the same capacity for lerning as we do. |
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coffee_addict Member (Idle past 498 days) Posts: 3645 From: Indianapolis, IN Joined: |
If you see it that way, the truth hurts.
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macaroniandcheese  Suspended Member (Idle past 3949 days) Posts: 4258 Joined: |
does playing the quitar get you laid?
art is a cultural evolution but it has influence our genetics. sometimes, those who are artistically talented will breed more than the more athletically inclined. thus the cultural has influenced what genes get passed on. do preist get laid more? (sorry. had to insert the obvious joke.) but judaism requires marriage for their religious officials and all but shuns ordinary followers who don't reproduce (how else will they be numbered as the stars?). humans are interesting creatures. our intellect and communication skills allows us to surpass 'mere' genetics. religion may or may not have any evolutionary bonus, but it is one of the obvious responses to the very same question we ask when receiving gifts (on christmas?) "what else?". humans question their environment. herein lies the source of religion, not in some desire to breed.
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
a genetic tendency toward religious belief in certain people, would be the implication. why is it so prevalent if there is no survival\reproductive benefit? (sorry to be so late responding but notifications not working on this thread) we are limited in our ability to understand by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
the emphasis is slightly different - in that topic the question is mone on how religion could have evolved (interesting in it's own right)
this is more on why it persists: the trait must have some survival\reproductive benefit for it to persist.
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
I think you are close on this. it reduces the value of self compared to the value of the {group\blessed\chosen} with a promised reward after death.
but excessive reckless disregard would also be counterproductive. what is the check\balance? we are limited in our ability to understand by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
I think you have a good concept on why it began, but the persistance is a different issue.
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
this might be linked to the co-evolution of religion as a by-product of reproductive display activity.
one of the theories of religious evolution is that it is a by-product of the sexually selected abilities of song and dance courtship displays, and all one has to do is connect that to the rituals with song and dance for relgions and with their use by "primitive" tribes before inter-tribal warfare. but is causing war and strife beneficial to the species? we are limited in our ability to understand by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1426 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
one also needs to distinguish between survival selection and breeding selection.
the point is to survive to breed, thus both are critical, and survival without ability, resources or reward to breed is the same result as death, but sexual selection causes entirely different features to be selected than survival: compare "members" between humans and other apes ....
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