“Although true pattern recognition helps us survive, false pattern recognition does not necessarily get us killed, and so the patternicity phenomenon endures the winnowing process of natural selection.” In interpreting patterns, there are two basic types of error Type I error in cognition which is a false positive: believing something to be real when it is not, and Type II error in cognition which is a false negative: believing that something is not real when it is. Patternicity is, however, about correlations and probability, not causation. Seeing the patterns of the clouds and the way the wind was blowing provided them with an ability to see weather patterns. One way it does that is through association learning, or patternicity.” “Remember, the primary function of the brain is to run the body and help it survive. Seeing the way in which the grass moved on the savanna, for example, could be a warning that a predator was present. The ability to see patterns had survival benefits for early human ancestors. Patternicity refers to the brain’s tendency to find what may be meaningful patterns in the exterior world. Religion can be the filter through which the perceptions in the brain are translated into actions. Our ancestors, long gone and recently gone, with evolving brains tried valiantly-and most often simplistically-to explain and to organize what their senses brought to the table for mental digestion.” “This human brain instinctively attempts to impose order out of chaos and randomness. In an article in Free Inquiry, Nicholas Molinari writes: The brain translates this confusing array of messages, ignoring some and prioritizing others, into some sort of meaningful perceptions. One of the functions of the brain is to interpret the world outside of the body, a world which is first transmitted to the brain via touch, sight, and sound. Much of the difference between human brains and those of other primates is found in the frontal lobe, the area of the brain related to complex thought such as planning and problem solving, conscious judgement and behavior control, emotions, and self-reflection, all of which can be related to religion. Most obvious is its larger size and the fact that much of the brain growth takes place after birth. The human brain is, of course, quite different from the brains of other primates. “Your culture may dictate which god to believe in and which religion to adhere to, but the belief in a supernatural agent who operates in the world as an indispensable part of the social group is universal to all cultures because it is hardwired in the brain, a conclusion enhanced by studies on identical twins separated at birth and raised in different environments.” In his book The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies-How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths, Michael Shermer writes: This variation is seen in creeds (belief systems and the importance of believing in key concepts deemed vital to the particular religion), in ceremonial activities, and in religious codes regarding behavior and society. “It could be that religious behavior itself does not require a dedicated brain region large enough to be detectable by present methods.”Ĭross-cultural ethnographic studies show a great deal of variation in how religion is expressed in different cultures. In his book The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures, Nicholas Wade writes: Instead religions appear to be a by-product of various cognitive systems that evolved for unrelated reasons.” “The human mind has no specific department for religion. In his chapter on natural religion in The Big Questions, Robert McCauley writes: “It is still possible that we will find dedicated neural mechanisms for some aspects of religious experience and conviction, but the early forays into such research have not been persuasive.” In his book Breaking the Spell: Religion and Natural Phenomenon, Daniel Dennett writes: Religion is part evolutionary bequest, just as bipedalism and the opposable thumb.”Īt the present time, neuroscientists have not yet uncovered specific areas of the brain which are dedicated to religion. “The ubiquity of religious belief is an effect of its genesis within the very structure of the human brain itself. In an article in Free Inquiry, Adam Neiblum writes: In seeking to understand human evolution and the origins of religion, the starting point is the brain and particularly the structure and the function of the brain.
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