Post date: Apr 06, 2010 2:5:58 PM
It turns out that human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times.”
“It seems that our minds are finely tuned to believe in gods.”
“Religious ideas are common to all cultures”
“Children the world over have a strong natural receptivity to believing in gods”
“Bering considers a belief in some form of life apart from that experienced in the body to be the default setting of the human brain”
“Our predisposition to believe in a supernatural world stays with us as we get older”
“Petrovich adds that even adults who describe themselves as atheists and agnostics are prone to supernatural thinking. Bering has seen this too.”
“It does, however, suggest that god isn’t going away, and that atheism will always be a hard sell. Religious belief is the ‘path of least resistance’, says Boyer, while disbelief requires effort.”
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126941.700-born-believers-how-your-brain-creates-god.html