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Author Topic:   The evolution of religion?
bluegenes
Member (Idle past 2477 days)
Posts: 3119
From: U.K.
Joined: 01-24-2007


Message 32 of 69 (405484)
06-13-2007 5:35 AM
Reply to: Message 20 by petrophysics1
06-07-2007 4:47 PM


Re: Religion results from experience
petrophysics writes:
Let's take something simple like ghosts. Disembodied spiritual beings are today and have been in the past seen by all cultures. Now even though atheists and fundamental christians share the belief that ghosts don't exist, that doesn't make it so. Also people see them, so they must be explained.
In my poverty stricken youth, I shared a house in London with some other people, including a guy who would regularly see ghosts in the house. He would also hear voices, and thought that he was telepathic, and could read other people's minds. Sometimes he believed he had a job, and would tell me about it with complete sincerity and in detail, although he was actually unemployed and probably unemployable.
He was suffering from severe schizophrenia.
His was an extreme case, but I doubt if there's any such thing as the perfect, faultless brain.
Most people will probably never "see" a ghost, some might see one, and some might see several, but the less you see the better, because would you really want to end up like my housemate, seeing ghosts all the time and with a brain that just could not be trusted?

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 Message 20 by petrophysics1, posted 06-07-2007 4:47 PM petrophysics1 has not replied

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 Message 33 by RAZD, posted 06-13-2007 6:32 AM bluegenes has replied

  
bluegenes
Member (Idle past 2477 days)
Posts: 3119
From: U.K.
Joined: 01-24-2007


Message 34 of 69 (405498)
06-13-2007 8:15 AM
Reply to: Message 33 by RAZD
06-13-2007 6:32 AM


Re: Religion results from experience
Both interesting links, RAZD, and relevant to a lot that comes up on EvC threads.
The suggestion that the seers, prophets and visionaries of all religions, the invententors and perpetuators of religions, may well have been epeleptics and schizophrenics is frequently made, and I suspect that the idea may be as old as religion itself.
By this I mean that for every mystic visionary, there would also be the cynics (or realists) around who would dismiss claims like "I'm speaking the word of God" by replying "you're crazy, mate."
In fact, the "you're crazy" brigade actually win out in the overwhelming majority of cases, but if the madman is charismatic and not too obviously crazy, and perhaps in the right time and place where there's public dissatisfaction and desire for something new, then a major or minor prophet can be born.
This view of things won't be too popular amongst the religious, but there's probably something in it.
So is religion madness, a kind of infectious psychological virus?
Good idea for a thread, if there's never been one on the subject.
Edited by bluegenes, : No reason given.

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 Message 33 by RAZD, posted 06-13-2007 6:32 AM RAZD has replied

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bluegenes
Member (Idle past 2477 days)
Posts: 3119
From: U.K.
Joined: 01-24-2007


Message 49 of 69 (406810)
06-22-2007 2:19 PM
Reply to: Message 47 by New Cat's Eye
06-22-2007 12:24 PM


Re: Neandertals
Re: Mental illness.
Catholic Scientist writes:
Does religion fit into that category?
It's often been suggested so, including suggestions of connections between the prophet/seer phenomenon and schizophrenia further up this thread (by me).
It certainly involves delusions.
Somewhere around posts 32-35, RAZD gives a link to an interesting paper which suggests strongly that schizophrenics are the prime inventors of all religions.
The paper here: Political and Social Science

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 Message 47 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-22-2007 12:24 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

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 Message 52 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-22-2007 3:39 PM bluegenes has replied

  
bluegenes
Member (Idle past 2477 days)
Posts: 3119
From: U.K.
Joined: 01-24-2007


Message 56 of 69 (406846)
06-22-2007 5:25 PM
Reply to: Message 52 by New Cat's Eye
06-22-2007 3:39 PM


Re: Neandertals
quote:
bluegenes: It [religion] certainly involves delusions.
How so certain?
There are thousands of different religions, so there must be a whole lot of delusion involved in the phenomenon of religion. The beliefs all tend to contradict each other, so most, if not all, must be false.
If god really does exists and prescribed religion to man, then it wouldn't be delusion at all, would it?
Why not? If a creator God exists, he wants us to have physical and mental illnesses, because we've got them, and that certainly includes delusions, so why not give us the organized group delusions we call religions along with all the other sicknesses?

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 Message 52 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-22-2007 3:39 PM New Cat's Eye has not replied

  
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