Humans 'Predisposed' to Believe in the Supernatural? (A different look at our past)

Okay. I have been thinking about doing a thread for sometime now about our past peoples (example: Egyptians, Inca's, Indians (American & India), Aztecs, Myans, Druids etc etc). But, I have been a little hesitant as I am a Complete Noob to this area. However, I can and do Think. A few threads recently have really opened my eyes up to some new learnings that as mind-boggling, to me.

With that, I saw this article that is the Thread Head. I read it and it hit on many of the points I have been trying to organize for that thread I wanted to do. Well, sometimes, Time is your best friend. As it turns out, I learned or have been exposed to many things and am ready. I thank you fellow ATS members. Put your thinking caps on!!! here we go.
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Humans 'Predisposed' to Believe in the Supernatural

Are humans programmed to believe in gods and in an afterlife? Forty separate studies (both analytical and empirical) conducted in 20 countries conclude that humans are predisposed to believe in gods and in afterlife. Both theology and atheism are reasoned responses to what is a basic impulse of the human mind, the studies suggest.

Fiftyseven researchers, led by Oxford University experts, carried out the studies for three years, representing a diverse range of cultures. They wanted to ascertain if concepts such as gods and an afterlife are entirely taught or are basic expressions of human nature, according to an Oxford statement. The theology project, from the Centre for Anthropology and Mind, drew on a range of disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and theology.

Experiments involving adults suggest that people across many different cultures instinctively believe that some part of their mind, soul or spirit lives on after death.

Source: archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com...

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Okay. I first want to draw attention to this thread by TLomon: My Theory on why humans are hard wired to believe in God www.abovetopsecret.com...&flagit=453612. I read that thread and I realized that this thread is (almost) exactly what I didn't want to included-but have to for reference etc).

I want to focus on ealier times even or different-forgotten or lest accepted religions and/or concepts. The big question in my mind is:
Are we predisposed to thinking there is/are Gods over us or that can effect our lives or were we force to or made to by circumstance, or by fear into the religious practices due to events-such as UFO's, Natural Distasters, Mean Rulers/Govt's/Leaders.

I have to ask because it seems like every new race/culture/society I learn about all end up doing things for their Gods or some other entity that is un-explainable. I hope that makes sence.

I will have to start at the Egyptian-but look forward to anyone who go before them. From what I have seen/learned and been told. Just about everything they did in this world was to get them to the every after life or to praise "Gods" for what they have

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Coloured relief of Akhenaten and Nefertiti making an offering to the Aten
Source: www-scf.usc.edu...
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Myans:
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When its pre-Spanish antecedents are taken into account, however, traditional Maya religion already exists for more than two millennia as a recognizably distinct phenomenon. Before the advent of Christianity, it was spread over many indigenous kingdoms, all with their own local traditions.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
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India/Hindu:
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When Hindus celebrate and honor their deities, they surround themselves with pictures or statues of the divine and offer cleanliness and purification rituals. Some festivals, such as Diwali, welcome gods and goddesses into homes with ceremony and sacred worship called puja. A Hindu purification process incorporates chanting with elements, such as water, foodstuffs, images of the deities and flowers.

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Cave drawings depicting alien beings and UFO-like craft discovered in India
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Japan:
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The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道, shén dào),[3] combining two kanji: "shin" (神?), meaning kami; and "tō" (道?), or "dō" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese word tao).[2][3] Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "deities", that are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being human-like, in others being animistic, and others being associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
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Easter Island:
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The type of religion that has characterized Easter Island from the beginning states a series of prohibitions and precepts, all of them related to what they consider sacred, and which receives the name of Tapu. The religious practice that persists in the island up to this day is called Ivi Atua, and it is based on the immortality of the soul. Basically, it states that the spirit of the ancestors comes to help their heirs or closest relatives if they need it. Their beliefs evolve mainly around Make-Make, the creator god, supreme god and he who is omnipotent.

Source: www.easterislandtourism.com...
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I could go on but I think the picture is clear... well. To the point of showing my idea. All these peoples from around the world.... Praying, honoring, worhshiping, paying homage..... Why? Is the aritlce correct.... we are predestine to be such...

Or are we finding evidence of people being forced to or complelled to for some reason? Where did the Cave Drawings come from---rather---what did they see to make them draw those things-Fear, Respect,Awe?
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I suppose if I was a cave dweller type from long ago and I saw ANY 1 of these things in the sky I would say that if I wasn't already praying etc because of pre-dedisponess, I would be driven to my knees in fear and then start praying. After they left and things settled down... Pay homage that I saw it, wasn't killed etc.

I personally believe that we are predisposed to think that there is something greater than this world. Regardless if it is Aliens/God/Karma. Something HAS to be better than this life (for many at least). Well, what do you think.

I think that humans are predisposed to believe that what they see is not what it is. We attribute every phenomena today as we did in the before-time: Giving it a deity. Except now our deities are Scientific Theories.

Well, Jim B. Tucker has done research on Reincarnation for around 40 years and his results confirm that there is life after death which is reincarnation:

en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

Tucker suggests that quantum mechanics may offer a mechanism by which memories and emotions could carry over from one life to another. He argues that since the act of observation collapses wave equations, consciousness may not be merely a by-product of the physical brain but rather a separate entity in the universe that impinges on the physical. Tucker argues that viewing consciousness as a fundamental, non-physical, part of the universe makes it possible to conceive of it continuing to exist after the death of the physical brain.

Come on mainstream science, hurry up and catch up already!

reply to post by mr10k


Interesting concept.

Could you give me a good example of what you think a good comarison between "old & new" would be.

Now, you got me thinking. But, for the sake of this thread, Am I to take it that you DO NOT believe we are predisposed to Gods and things?

Yes, I agree. They all knew there was more than this existence. Like me, I sensed it early on as a child. There is a Reality of Truth and it lies in the Absolute Truth. We are all consciousnesses experiencing and observing self. They listened with an open mind and heart and didn't have internet nor ATS for anyone to debunk their "irrational thoughts" that could not be proven with a link or picture.

Here on the internet one can find countless stories of NDE. You can listen to the ones who have been in Hell and later swept up by Jesus or you will hear about ones seeing Jesus. I love the spiritual essence in the Human mind....I wish we could all agree there is life after death.

My poor Grandfather didn't believe but as I sat next to him for two weeks whispering in his ear as he was passing over I told him exactly what to do when he died and what I wanted him to convey (a question asked from me and he was to answer it when he could) through a dream. 3 days after he passed away he came to me in my dream and answered my question. One can say coincidence.......I say it was the Truth to my question.

Believe what you want......so be it.

reply to post by anon72


Children are naturally bias to believe certain kinds of, ultimately religious, explanations.

When asked about the origins of things

Why are rocks pointy?

A) Little bits of stuff piled up on top of one another over a long time.
B) So animals could scratch themselves when they got itchy.

Most children believed in answer B.

Why are lakes still?

A) So animals could cool off in them without being washed away.
B) No moving water ever ran into them.

Most children believed in answer A.

Children, from about 4 years of age, have a tendency to endorse a purpose based explanation for the origins of things. This then leads children to believe that these objects have been given a specific purpose and therefore must have been created by someone for that specific purpose.

So, in some ways children are natural creationists. Assuming meaning and purpose in things even where there is none, making them easy picking for religious dogma.

See the work of Deborah Kelemen who, rather than using the term "natural creationists," proposes that children are natural teleologists, assigning a purpose to everything they come across.

I think "supernatural" is kind of a misnomer here. The thing is, human beings are creating their own reality all the time through conscious observation and definition. We have a natural tendency to combine the things we see in our dreams and in our minds with the stuff we see as external to ourselves. So in a way, it's not "supernatural" at all.

It's really just "out of the ordinary." We ordinarily dream at night. But there's nothing physically stopping us from dreaming when we're wide awake. It might just be a burst of "imagination" that takes on a more solid-looking form. It just doesn't happen that often, or often enough for us to notice. So when it does, we try to define it according to what we know to be ordinary, and sometimes it doesn't fit.

Now, if it turns out that our consciousnesses actually have a bigger part in creating reality than we realize, then it would only make sense for us to accept that there are odd things that happen once in a while, and that we're all bound up in it. So, yeah. We're predisposed to accept the supernatural, because we, as rational, intelligent, but also highly imaginative beings, encounter it every day.

Originally posted by anon72
reply to post by mr10k

 

Interesting concept.

Could you give me a good example of what you think a good comarison between "old & new" would be.

Now, you got me thinking. But, for the sake of this thread, Am I to take it that you DO NOT believe we are predisposed to Gods and things?

Before: God is the reason that the universe exists (not proven)
Now: Big-Bang theory (not proven)

Before: The Earth is the center of the universe (not proven)
Now: The Universe has an indefinite shape with an indefinite center (not proven)

Fact is, we never did solve any of the mysteries that we attributed to deities many years ago. Heck, some argue that some of the explanations ancients used for phenomena were scientific interpretations if looked at with a specific point of view. Now, we just make a theory. and slap that onto whatever we don't know.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

~ Albert Einstein

reply to post by mr10k


Great post.

Okay. I got it. Hmmm. Had never thought it things like that. Thanks.

You folks are coming up with some good stuff. Keep it coming.

thank you.

I'm surprised more folks didn't reply to this.

To me, I don't think we can fully understand our past if we don't determine this matter.

I will say that if it is true-us being Predisposed, that it maybe evidence of a higher power in our design....

Originally posted by anon72
I'm surprised more folks didn't reply to this.

It didn't have enough grainy, out of focus images of what kind of look like buildings on the Moon or Mars. Those always get a ton of replies.

A couple of comments:

The "indian cave drawings" are fakes, debunked here and many places.

The information sources are brief and may lead to a wrong conclusion. In general, cultures that exist as small bands of wandering people believe in "spirits" but not a great set of beings over all of them. When they come together as formal bands with chiefs, then their belief system usually becomes "Spirit world has a chieftain and many spirits that do his business."

City-states, kingdoms, and empires tend to have a "one god over everything" and then assign the rest of their belief structure so that it tends to mirror their civilization. The Chinese belief system (old one) where there was elevation to godhood based on merit and where Heaven had a lot of officials was very much a reflection of the Chinese society. Medieval European beliefs of Angels and levels of heaven and levels of hell (see Dante's paradise) was a mirror of the Medieval civilization of Europe.

And you might want to read more on the beliefs of Egypt. I can recommend Flinders Petrie's book on ancient Egyptian religion. It's free to read on the web and some of it has been corrected since then, but it's a good starting point.

reply to post by Byrd


I will look into the info provided.

Now, do you think humans are Predisposed then?

Thank you, as always.

reply to post by anon72

Now, do you think humans are Predisposed then?

I think we are. Proving it would be difficult in these modern times where psychologists are subject to codes of ethics. The days of Milgram are gone. Otherwise, we could have raised two or three generations of 'natives' in controlled settings to find out.

It's possibly as prehistoric an instinct as waking in the night with the feeling that 'something' is out there. When there was no apparent cause for the visceral 'bump-in-the-night-factor' (no predator for example), to what would people ascribe the cause? It's in these ancient moments where, I think, much of our tapestry of religious beliefs are sourced. Having the sensation of something spooky is pre-language, which is one of the reasons I favour the idea that we're predisposed...

As Byrd pointed out, the rise in complexity of human groups into society and then civilisations generates ever-more sophisticated belief systems. In my opinion, the transition from small groups to a hierarchical system (clans, chiefs, warriors, farmers etc) marks the point where the predisposition towards the supernatural became exploited and instrumental in shaping societies towards a political goal.

The level of predisposition could possibly be scored, on our own judgement, by how we react to the 'bump-in-the-night-factor.' What are our thoughts in the immediate moments? Burglars, demons, ghosts or angels?

reply to post by Kandinsky

the transition from small groups to a hierarchical system (clans, chiefs, warriors, farmers etc) marks the point where the predisposition towards the supernatural became exploited and instrumental in shaping societies towards a political goal.

Dam, that just sounds good! But, then if we are Predisposed, what you indicated-I think-that the whole rise of the belief becomes corrupted at some point? Is that what you mean?

I would have to say, you are correct. After all, we are only human... all of us-including the religious leaders.

reply to post by anon72


I agree we are pre-disposed and I also think Religion and Science play a great role regarding separation. Religion does a great job of keeping people separated and so does science...they keep the religious/spiritual idea out of the equation. I think if the two were to come together we would advance even more...at a faster rate that is. I could be way off....but just thinking out loud here.

Religions come into play to keep society controlled, confused and separated. I really do believe if we had access to all of the ancient writings and studied them we would have more knowledge, maybe even the answer to the long lived unanswerable questions as....who are we and where did we come from.

If you believe in Jesus's Words then you may believe he was being honest when he said we could not handle the truth and when he comes again he will deliver it then.........meaning........he will come again and tell the Truth to everyone. He who has ears let him hear and .......so on.

Time will tell as many believe we are in times of the "Signs" just as in Noahs day.

Either way......we are destined for life after death and how I go makes little difference although if I had to choose.....I think I would choose a quick ending (not into drama) and if I had the chance to be "here" for the second coming.....I would definitely choose to walk the Earth with THE MAN.

Peace and love to you and yours!!!!! xoxox

reply to post by CasiusIgnoranze


This is a great post, and is in line with what I have found, too.

At one time I wrote an article entitled .What Is Mind? in which I postulate the same thing: that mind (consciousness) exists outside the human body, and mundane reality.

The article goes on to show that the same can be said in animals like rats, but that is for a whole ‘nuther subject.

What this shows is that not only is MEMORY stored in a higher place, but so is the ability to reason and logic. Logic supersedes man. Man merely taps into logic for his own use. His ability to tap into this logic must then dictate his perceived “intellect”.

And that is an important concept to keep in mind: logic supersedes man. Without mankind, logic still exists.

So what/who is the logical force that man is able to utilize? It is a force that also contains the elements of memory (which hearkens to concepts such as an Akashic Record).

There are many examples of brain injury where the individual is able to maintain a semblence of intelligence. One kid who received a radical hemispherectomy still went on to graduate college.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Thanks for the read....I followed the link. I agree as well.

The mind is an awesome energy force and it goes when we go.... that I do know.