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04-26-2002, 11:02 AM | #31 |
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Cricket,
Thanks. I will have to get that book and maybe it will help explain why my brain rejects geometry and chemistry and transposes # all the time Thinking about the possible implications that a mental defect or a different path of wiring may be a reason why some people are theists … well, that brings up an entirely different set of questions and problems? If someone is say “hard wired” for fundamental and rabid theism, what can we do to deprogram those neuro pathways so they can understand logic – AND stop killing people, harassing them and oppressing them? Brighid |
04-26-2002, 11:15 AM | #32 |
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Brighid
if you look a ways down this page <a href="http://www.naturesafari.com/tribe.htm" target="_blank">http://www.naturesafari.com/tribe.htm</a> you'll find lots of information on different lobotomy techniques which may be of use in breaking that neurophysiological tendency towards religion. cheers, Michael |
04-26-2002, 11:24 AM | #33 | |
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Hi Free12thinker,
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Perhaps the connection is between critical thought, which MAY come more readily to those with higher intelligence, and atheism - which seems to be borne out by this forum. But keep in mind that there are different kinds of intelligence - you can't, I think, just lump them all together. You might have some super-intellectual person who is completely hopeless at understanding interpersonal relationships vs someone who isn't so hot on deconstructing the whichness of why but who glides through the social world, never putting a foot down wrong. Someone else might show high intelligence in spatial perception, or being one of those people who have a "knack" for something like problem solving, fixing stuff, finding things, etc etc. cheers, Michael |
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04-26-2002, 11:48 AM | #34 | |
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Others have said all it takes to be an atheist is the desire to question religion and a willingness to let go of supernatural belief in response to that questioning. While it's simple to say that, I'm starting to believe that the average brain is just not programmed to easily do that sort of thing. Some brains, however, are fortunate enough to have an easy time with that (mine, I think, being one of them). Jamie |
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04-26-2002, 11:52 AM | #35 | |
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You're right. There are certainly differing levels of intelligence, just as education and intelligence are different things. But what some replies are stating is that someone of higher intelligence would be more likely to shun religious doctrines, and, atheists are more likely to come out of higher educated realms than lower educated realms. And although higher educated does not always mean more intelligence, I think it does lend credence to the fact that there is a link between "scope of understanding" and which side one chooses (theism or non-theism). I should have worded it differently from the beginning. |
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04-26-2002, 12:22 PM | #36 | |
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04-26-2002, 12:31 PM | #37 |
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My personal theory is more along the lines that there is some kind of emotional longing that religion fills for many people. I can't speak for all atheists, but I personally feel I am an atheist because I do not suffer from this longing.
However, it can't be that simple. There are probably other factors. |
04-26-2002, 12:35 PM | #38 | |
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And while I'm here, to whom can we first attribute this sentiment?:
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04-26-2002, 12:37 PM | #39 | |
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Actually I made similar comments in an interesting discussion of the power of belief which is archived at my website. The primary participants in the discussion were an unabashed strong agnostic and a buddhist monastic. You can read the transcript <a href="http://www.unfacts.org/archive/skepticism/powerofbelief.html" target="_blank">here</a> if you are so inclined. |
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04-26-2002, 12:39 PM | #40 |
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Koy, sorry about that "atheist until college" comment. Your explanation took a while to sink in. You know how it is.
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