Religion has sprung up in every corner of the world in the middle east we have the Abrahamic religions. In Europe we had pagan and Nordic religions, now taken over by Christianity. In the Americas there were the many religions of the original inhabitants. The aborigines of Australia believe their beliefs and the peoples of India believe theirs.

Many religions have been created and destroyed, no one (Or any significant amount of people) still believe in Roman, Aztec, Greek or Mayan Gods anymore. Now even though the sheer number of religions in the world is probably a good argument against any one religion, I want this discussion to be based on the psychology of religion.

Why has religion been so successful in anchoring itself so deeply into our mindset?

It seems no coincidence that every continent/country has developed its own religion at some point or another. Why has this been? What evolutionary pressures has there been for the creation of religion?

Because people have too much time to think about life and what it all means. They don't like the idea that the 0-120 years is blip on the radar that is time.

They want to feel special and important. And how can you be important without living longer than humans do? (they think)

I don't know how to answer you question from a evolutionary view; just giving me opinion.

To keep people under the influence of the rulers of the time to obey.

"The truth about God is known instinctively; God has put this knowledge in our hearts. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that we are without excuse."

This IS the answer to your question.

religion has always done the same thing, try to answer questions that we don't undestand. It used to tell us that the sun rises because a chariot carries it across the sky for example.

Now as these questions are answered these religions die off. New religions answer new questions "God created adam, then eve, then we have suffering cuz of original sin, etc"

etc, etc. Modern day religions will eventually be the same as Greek Mythology and new religions will take their place.

Religion is truly a mind virus, based in people's fear of death. Now, if you give it the attributes of a virus, obviously it is going to be subject to natural selection. Therefore, religions will go extinct, and the religions that are best at spreading their message and keeping their followers hooked will be the most prevalent. I think that is definitely the case today with Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Jainism. If you look at these religions closely, it is also clear that they have a common ancestor, you can almost see how the path went, and where each one branched off.

I could swear you're trying to describe science...

Ha ha, nice point. God is science.

Its just that science as we know it is man trying to describe God whereas certain religions as we know them is God trying to describe God.

whether this truth is actually real or whether it is something that we convince ourselves of, i feel this is the correct answer.

Science does the same thing, it just involves methods that actually work.

I'm pretty sure if you asked the leading "scientists" of other eras (for example, astrologers), that they would also have claimed their methods "actually work."

By what are you measuring the statement "actually work"? Religions make claims about things like an "afterlife." How do you intend to support the claim that religions don't "actually work" in these realms where they are making their primary claims?

It was a way for primitive cultures to understand why things happened. Droughts obviously affected villages' crops and food amounts, etc. thing like that. They needed an explanation for why sometimes they were punished by drought, or rewarded with rain. Religion then spread its' wings to cover why people die to make sense of it (again looking for an answer to the randomness of why some people die and some live), and where people go when they die. It continues making up explanations and rules and you get what you have today.

It fits our psychological makeup and the form it takes will reflect the "political" structure of the culture it's in.

Our brains deliver us minds that -
- believe in cause and effect.
- depend on "intent" to solve what other minds, human or animal, are up to. What they want, why they're doing X.
- dream/hallucinate, thus experience 'spirits' and dead people.

so, something is causing events we witness/experience and It will have an intent.

small rather leaderless hunter gatherer groups usually stay in the 'tree spirit, wind spirit' stage. Larger groups will tend to the alpha male, alpha female structure of some type and their religion moves along with it reflecting a hierarchy. etc.

With our brains, it'd be hard not to take this approach to the world. Other intelligent social animals could likely be tested to see if they believe in "the spirit of the frizbee" or some such. Their minds have a similar makeup as ours, depending on cause-effect and intent, so .....

Awesome post Luckyme.

So astrologers are scientists now? Astrology is basically just another silly religion. It has never had anything to do with science.

Do you believe that the understanding of "science" today will be the same understanding as "science" 300 years from now?

More importantly, how do you intend to support the claim that religions do work in these realms?

Of course it will be the same. The scientific method is not changing. Astrology has never followed the scientific method and has therefore never been science.

OK, change "actually works" to "verifiably works."

No because Science does explain things we don't understand. Religion trys to.

Why does the sun rise every day?
Religion:
Chariot carries Sun across the sky

years later...

Science:
Earth revolves around the sun.

etc, etc, etc.

So... like gravitons?

wasnt the first scientific explanation that the sun revolved around the earth based on the observation at the time?

Are you defining science by the scientific method? You might want to do a little study into history.

Science is the scientific method.

You are wrong. Religion is just a label give to system of beliefs that a group of people hold.

People think. People talk to other people. People share ideas back and forth. Some ideas become commenly shared betweened a group of people.

Now you have a group of people holding simliar ideas/belifs... presto name it something and call it a religion.


So bascially you are asking why to people think, have ideas and share them with others and form mutual ideas and lable them..

What could be more natural.