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<p>I think about religion being evolutionary useful in getting
larger groups of people to co-operate. If you have 10,000 or more
people, all unified, following the same survival goals, including
taking resources and life? from "heathens", you will easily
dominate any other smaller group of not us (i.e. heathens). And
the idea of a guy at the top of the hierarchy, directly linking to
"God", and everyone else getting access to god, through him - you
get some big hierarchies. Hierarchies can never survive, when
unforced from above, as most non religious people seem to think
about religious leaders. The only reason the tops of religious
have powers, is because their followers give it to them. The
leader may be very tolerant to outside views and such, but the
rank and file will hate, excommunicate, and destroy anyone
questioning the top authority. I'm sure this is because of our
breading. People that do that, naturally, able to form larger
hierarchies, and better well defining who they are, and who the
heathens are, the more survivable the large co-orating group.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>As far as beliefs in "immortal souls", spirits, ghosts and such,
that is fairly easy to understand, given the way our brain
represents knowledge of what we are, in our environment. We have
knowledge of the room around us, represented in our head. At the
center of the knowledge of the room, is knowledge of our body.
When we stub out toe, the pain isn't in the toe, it is in our
knowledge of the toe, in our brain. When your foot is amputated,
you still have knowledge of that foot, phantom limb pain and so on
- hence people's beliefs in "spiritual body parts" that do not get
amputated when your foot is.<br>
</p>
<p>At the top of that knowledge of your body, is the knowledge of
our head. And inside your knowledge of your head, is your
knowledge of you, as if you were a "spirit", "ghost" or whatever
you want to think of that knowledge of you as being. This
knowledge is usually represented as a separate entity, reside
within the head, and peering out the eyes, as if they were holes
in the head, containing your spirit. Your knowledge of your head,
represents something in reality (your real head). But your
knowledge of your spirit/ghost, has no referent in reality. And
when you have an out of body experience, this is knowledge of your
spirit, leaving your knowledge of your body, all in your head.<br>
</p>
<p>Scientifically, we can observe/discover this knowledge of our
spirit, with no referent in reality.<br>
</p>
<p>Brent Allsop<br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/22/2018 10:34 AM, William Flynn
Wallace wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAO+xQEYkeb=Yr8U0QxhGj1PbHtB7V1_Xf0q=6ji1V1cikTdSMA@mail.gmail.com">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br>
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<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 22, 2018 at 10:16 AM,
Adrian Tymes <span dir="ltr"><<a
href="mailto:atymes@gmail.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">atymes@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto"><span class="">On Feb 22, 2018 7:51 AM,
"William Flynn Wallace" <<a
href="mailto:foozler83@gmail.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">foozler83@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:
<div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="m_-7901727301225748902quote"
style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:19.2px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">A
far more difficult thing, in my opinion,
is the origin of the concept of the
immortal soul. I am working on that one.</span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
</span>
<div dir="auto">"But I can't actually just stop
existing. What happens to my memories, my identity,
after I die? I have not experienced anything like
them just going poof, so even if you say that's what
happens, that doesn't make intuitive sense."</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">In other words, a common cognitive
dissonance when thinking about one's own death.</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">----</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">Yes.
Death, the great mystery. It's just impossible to think
of going to sleep and not waking up. And primitive
people extended this to plants - trees had souls, cattle
had souls - others thought trees were gods and should be
prayed to to excuse the act of cutting them down.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline"><br>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">In
Pinker's book the more science/education a population
knows/has, the more people leave religion. </div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">Science
is a threat - the religious people are right. Natural
causes trump metaphysical causes. </div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline"><br>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">bill
w</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline"></div>
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