There must be a reason that belief in god, ghost, conspiracies, aliens, devils and hosts of other supernatural beings are so prevalent. Many researches, who have concluded that the supernatural does not exist are now trying to postulate why these illogical beliefs are so persistent. I have been reading a lot of material about the subject and absorbed many hypotheses which are getting closer and closer to an explanation. The Australian psychologist Gary M Baker summed them up in a recent article (Skeptical Enquirer Jan/Feb.’15) as follows: Fear of death, Desire to control people, Direct religious experience, An evolutionary advantage, The Brain’s God spot, and A need for meaning. None of them are quite convincing. A new theory by Psychologist Deborah Keleman and her colleagues makes a lot more sense: “there is now an overwhelming evidence that children around the world are innately prone to” promiscuous teleological intuitions” preferring teleological, purpose based rather than physical- caused explanations of living and non-living natural objects. This tendency seems to be modifiable only from around 10 years of age, and declines only in the children of non-fundamentalist parents. (Keleman et all 2013)
After digesting all this material let’s do a severe application of Occam’s Razor, in short; the simplest assumptions are likely more correct. A human brain develops slowly from un-awareness to awareness with many intermediate stages in between. The 5 senses develop slowly and not all at the same pace. Hearing starts in the womb and eyesight after birth, A baby starts perceiving moving objects and their associated sounds. At first it cannot determine the difference between live and static objects. It learns that some are more important than others and perceives the major care giver as the greatest force in their environment, totally in charge and omnipotent (God?). Gradually other animate, (people and animals) as well as inanimate objects, (dolls and toys) become part of their world, and they start dreaming about their experiences. Not making too much sense but having a powerful influence on their brain. Invisible friends become a part of many young children. Since no one has the exact same experiences and since their genetic make up differ, these first impressions about the unknown world are stronger or weaker from child to child. When growing up this first god-like expression transfers over from parent to a supernatural being when they become more aware. This “transfer” could be weak or strong so that in later life the need for hanging on to the security of their deity persists. We are all familiar with the Christian God but in other cultures the need for a supernatural protector is seen as well. Thus the “need” for belief in some sort of almighty being, who protects you, who must be obeyed, who sets the rules, who punishes bad behavior, and rewards good behavior is similar in many religions. People who are more independent are more likely to be able to face life without the imaginary “parent” looking over their shoulder. I am supposing that the belief in some sort of god, which we find in a great many people, is a left over of the early stages of awareness development in the very young baby when comprehension was still lacking, a simple observation fitting the Occam’s razor principle nicely.
After digesting all this material let’s do a severe application of Occam’s Razor, in short; the simplest assumptions are likely more correct. A human brain develops slowly from un-awareness to awareness with many intermediate stages in between. The 5 senses develop slowly and not all at the same pace. Hearing starts in the womb and eyesight after birth, A baby starts perceiving moving objects and their associated sounds. At first it cannot determine the difference between live and static objects. It learns that some are more important than others and perceives the major care giver as the greatest force in their environment, totally in charge and omnipotent (God?). Gradually other animate, (people and animals) as well as inanimate objects, (dolls and toys) become part of their world, and they start dreaming about their experiences. Not making too much sense but having a powerful influence on their brain. Invisible friends become a part of many young children. Since no one has the exact same experiences and since their genetic make up differ, these first impressions about the unknown world are stronger or weaker from child to child. When growing up this first god-like expression transfers over from parent to a supernatural being when they become more aware. This “transfer” could be weak or strong so that in later life the need for hanging on to the security of their deity persists. We are all familiar with the Christian God but in other cultures the need for a supernatural protector is seen as well. Thus the “need” for belief in some sort of almighty being, who protects you, who must be obeyed, who sets the rules, who punishes bad behavior, and rewards good behavior is similar in many religions. People who are more independent are more likely to be able to face life without the imaginary “parent” looking over their shoulder. I am supposing that the belief in some sort of god, which we find in a great many people, is a left over of the early stages of awareness development in the very young baby when comprehension was still lacking, a simple observation fitting the Occam’s razor principle nicely.
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