Humans 'Predisposed' to Believe in Gods and the Afterlife

[Tank]

Humans 'Predisposed' to Believe in Gods and the Afterlife

ScienceDaily (July 14, 2011) — A three-year international research project, directed by two academics at the University of Oxford, finds that humans have natural tendencies to believe in gods and an afterlife.

The £1.9 million project involved 57 researchers who conducted over 40 separate studies in 20 countries representing a diverse range of cultures. The studies (both analytical and empirical) conclude that humans are predisposed to believe in gods and an afterlife, and that both theology and atheism are reasoned responses to what is a basic impulse of the human mind.

The researchers point out that the project was not setting out to prove the existence of god or otherwise, but sought to find out whether concepts such as gods and an afterlife appear to be entirely taught or basic expressions of human nature...

This interesting article supports my view that humans are pre-disposed to be superstitious, it was an evolutionary advantage that filled the gap between knowledge (the sun rises) and understanding (we are on a planet orbiting a star). Without the sticking plaster of institutionalised superstitions (religions) humans would not have made it through the period of cognitive dissonance where their knowledge exceeded their understanding.