religion

Out of context: Reply #2144

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  • sted2

    "For most high-functioning individuals in modern society there is a balance between trust and paranoia, based upon a rationale appraisal of the situation based upon experience and understanding (Green and Phillips, 2004; Nelson et al., 2012). It has been proposed that religion and schizophrenia have similar evolutionary underpinnings (Dein and Littlewood, 2011). In this view, both theory of mind and attributing life events to an external agency are hyperextended and intrude thought processes and actions excessively. One way to view the brains of those who believe in a God, particularly fundamentalists, is that they have a low level of trust in people and so fabricate an external agency, a security blanket in which they trust."

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    • makes sensemonospaced
    • Indeed. It sounds like belief in god(s) is a rational protection mechanism, no?Morning_star
    • < I don't agree at all. This may have some contemporary relevance but trying to connect religion + schizo from an evolutionary perspective is a massive reachGnash
    • Rational? I think it could be argued either way with ease. Some might say that not resorting to a fabricated supernatural is far more rational :)monospaced
    • Only if you're willing to claim that our 200,000 year old ancestors were atheist.Morning_star
    • Gnash Schizophrenia is a genetic disorder and one of the top symptoms are extreme adoration for a religion or with the occult.sted
    • I prefer the theory that theism arose from the evolutionary advantages of seeing intention in things. If we can't tell what an animal may do, we could die.i_monk
    • So we model the intention of other things, just in case there's a threat. But like seeing faces in clouds, it's easy to see intention in the world at large.i_monk
    • So there must be intent behind that lightning, that flood, that tree... So, gods.i_monk
    • Everyone is born atheist :)monospaced
    • God bless America.shapesalad
    • +1 i_monk. there makes senseGnash
    • People that hear voices that tell them to kill their kids are locked up nowadays, two thousand years ago they were made saints._niko
    • There is Also the phenomenon of sleep paralysis https://en.m.wikiped… which I’ve experienced first hand. If I lived a couple of_niko
    • ...hundred years ago I’d absolutely believe I was visited by demons. Scary as fuck even though I can easily rationalize it._niko
    • I get sleep paralysis and yep have seen and heard all kinds of insane shit. wasn't until my early twenties when found out what it was.inteliboy
    • I have sleep paralysis as well. It's insanely terrifying. To piggyback on this topic, a lot of religious texts were written by people who were fasting..garbage
    • ..which can trigger severe hallucinations that they then interpreted as divine visions.garbage
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