Supernatural Selection

[Epicurus]

A Must Read "Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved " by Matt Rossano

Description - The existence of God has been part of human discussion for centuries. Believers point to evidence of design and rationality as convincing proofs of divine presence. Rossano, head of the psychology department at Southeastern Louisiana University, looks instead to notions borrowed from anthropology and sociology to construct a purely nonreligious view of the evolution of religion. Favoring science over sentiment, he takes great comfort in the idea that ?pieces of our evolutionary puzzle are now falling into place.? He suggests that religion, which he describes as an ?evolutionary adaptation,? arises from intergroup competition and is the result of the inevitable struggles that occur when groups compete for the same prizes (in this case, adherents to their message). To true believers, this is a grim assessment of the religious notions that underlie their lives. Casual readers will find this book tough going and, in some instances, overly technical. But with patience, most will find food for thought. :Hangman:

[Youssuf Ramadan]

Looks interesting - might have to have a squizz at that...

[Solitary]

The fact that it is written by a psychologist makes me skeptical from the get go. And saying believers point to the evidence of design and rationality as proofs of divine presents show that they themselves are not rational. If they were rational they wouldn't be religious. Even though pragmatism works it doesn't mean it provides the truth. When dealing with groups of people logic doesn't work, even though it does in science. This is the very reason religious leaders and politicians have so much power, because they are pragmatic, not because they are logical and rational.

A few examples to show how being illogical works: We had a president and his cronies use fallacies in logic like: "You're either against us or for us, Saddam has weapons of mass destruction based on a fallacy of omission and appeal to emotions, which has caused mass destruction because it was pragmatic and worked, not because it was rational and logical. Religious leader use fallacies in logic to control and have power over the masses by using fear, an appeal to the emotions, and appeal to the audience fallacies. Solitary

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Perhaps god just went extinct.. if that's the case then no need to worship him/her/it.. It would be like worshiping the doedoe bird..

[Solitary]

Nietzsche: "God is dead!" God: "Nietzsche is dead!"   :shock:   :rollin:  Solitary

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Creationists: Scientists are baffled at their inability to locate gods fossilized remains..  :rollin:

[Solitary]

I think they found it with Piltdown man and didn't realize it.  :roll:  Solitary

[St Giordano Bruno]

One of those so called "god's" fossilized remains :rollin:  


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