Quote:
Originally Posted by DrVanNostrin
Then why does religion exist?
Well that's a very simple question but the answer is pretty complex. Tomes have been written on this question. No matter what my answer is I highly doubt I can make it satisfactory in just this post...but I'll try in vain anyways cause I'm a good sport.
To start out as simple and perhaps as vaguely as possible, religion exists because we have many
glitches in our primate brains. We have many cognitive biases that make something like religion developing very probable. We are programmed (by evolution) to have a tendency to see or apply agency where none exists (Ghosts, spirits, Zeus caused lightning, etc). We are programmed to be promiscuous
pattern seekers to the point where we see or create patterns that don't exist.
Humans are also extremely illogical beings prone to believing things based on wishful thinking or fears (Heaven, a sky daddy who loves us, hell for those who like the idea of cosmic justice, etc). We would rather have a conspiracy theory than no theory at all. Said in a different way, if we don't have an explanation for something we're more likely to
make one up than simply say, "I don't know."
We also are programmed to think
teleologically. We assume everything has a purpose whether we have a good reason or not and we assume that every thing that's designed must have a designer (besides the fact that this reasoning is fallacious evolution has shown us a designer isn't necessary). This short
video does a good job of explaining how creatures with purpose and design on the brain can come up with the God concept.
To conclude, a more simple answer to your question would be this. Somewhere along the evolutionary time line, ancient humans became intelligent enough to ask the question in some form or another, "Why are we here?" But of course they were not even close to being smart enough to answer this question, (In fact the most intelligent people on our planet today think this question is
nonsensical) yet those ancient humans answered that treacherous question anyways, and that's where religion/God(s) come from.