Category: Religion, Myth, and Theology

WHY DO HUMANS GENERATE DEMAND FOR “RELIGION”?
(whether scientific, philosophical, mythological, or theological)

Religion does not need to solve the problem of the universe, since there are tribes with no consiousness of such a thing. Religion solves the problem of alienation caused by anonymity as populations scale.

Religion universally ‘works’ by creating a ‘debt’ perception which provokes our submission response, which when practiced together reduces aggression into non-aggression.

When combined with prosociality of the the feast celebration (post-hunt feast), and the prosociality post feast, we generate a sense of indifference if not equality that sedates our alienation.

Mythology then creates explanations that further reduce alienation by producing additional mindfulness.

Lastly, standards of behavior produce ‘weights and measures’ that preven aggressions that allow cooperation at scale, allowing families, clans, tribes, and nations to cooperate desipte the idiosyncratic traditions and myths they developmed on their own.

So that is why religions grow and change with population trade and political organization: weights and measures of non-aggression, producing mindfulness despite pervasive alienation.

Its a human bias to assume the universe started or needed to start. The universe exists. We do not know which model of the universe is correct. (a) It may be that there is one local bubble, ours, that expands and contracts or expands and dissipates (b) or that there is a ‘froth’ of bubbles (a multiverse) each of which expands and dissipates, or expands and collapses (c) or if the universe is infinite and within it are periodic explosions that create regions we call universes that expand and dissipate (d) or if there is something larger than the universe as we see it producing the pressure (energy) we observe in our universe. (e) it is not even clear that our theories of expansion and redshift are correct, and it might be that what we call the big bang(s) occur everywhere at once etc. (f) And worse, we are not clear that time has any meaning given that while sequence exists but that time is determined by the rate of change of all within the universe dependent upon energy density of the quantum background and rate of speed as anything travels through it. In other words time may only exist during and within any given universe and be irrelevant outside of it.

And the odd (absurd) contradiction is made by those who claim that such a unverse couldn’t be eternal, and therefore must be started by magical entity that is eternal? 😉

One need only say “I don’t know”. I don’t know which of those is true, but that’s the best information we have – and to have confidence (real), not faith (supernatural) in man’s demonstrated ability TO know – gradually, fitfully, but with near certainty. (At least western man’s. Other civs aren’t very good at ‘truth’.)

Conversely we have the odd human anthropomorphic vain self delusion that any entity external to the universe, of the universe or in the universe we live in, cares a whit about us given that the universe is a vast irradiated wastely hostile to all life.

Life is deterministic. It will occur if it can. It’s just very difficult to do so given the hostility of the universe.

Cheers

Reply addressees: @Stealth_Bandit @thedualMan