[_ Old Earth _] evolution and it's god gene

[freeway]

answer this for me from an evolution view point,, If evolution is true and there is no God, no one to believe in, God, gods, flying space monkeys. then why? would evolution instill in its evolution the God gene... why? did religion come about, after all you say their is no God... why? if you land on some island in the south pacific and find natives that has never heard from the outside world, they are worshiping something, water, trees, moon, sun or stars, or whatever the case might be... maybe, could it be that God has put that in our hearts.. after all creation cries out to a creator.... and I'm just saying God gene for sake of argument....

 

[Jayls5]

answer this for me from an evolution view point,, If evolution is true and there is no God, no one to believe in, God, gods, flying space monkeys. then why? would evolution instill in its evolution the God gene... why? did religion come about, after all you say their is no God... why? if you land on some island in the south pacific and find natives that has never heard from the outside world, they are worshiping something, water, trees, moon, sun or stars, or whatever the case might be... maybe, could it be that God has put that in our hearts.. after all creation cries out to a creator.... and I'm just saying God gene for sake of argument....

I can think of all sorts of useful scenarios where a banding of a belief in God would be beneficial, but I'm not about to adopt a specific view for certain. I'm not sure if there is a "God gene" though.

On could argue that a belief in God is a form of "group think," one often tied to morality. People can assign their agreed morals to a deity and do all sorts of wacky things like sacrifices to the sun god like in Aztec culture. However, that same mentality could have been used to collectively overpower a selfish individual without much capability of group empathy or group mentality. A single (overt, even pathologically) selfish individual is almost certainly less of an advantageous characteristic over the type of group mentality we share. Packs of dogs exhibit empathy and hunt together, and this mentality collectively gives them an increased chance of survival. Coincidentally, this empathy and herd mentality makes them great pets for us. The question might immediately become whether or not this worship is truly advantageous in itself or if it's a bi-product of our human condition. I don't know whether it's a biological need for collective identity or something else... I really don't know the origin. The entire world had collective ideas about things in the past that were dead wrong, and the diversity in types of God(s)/Godesses/nature worship really doesn't seem to be much support for a generic single God that you believe in.

Can religion be useful on an evolutionary scale? Yes, assuming that religion is the thing keeping our normative values intact and keeping us from total chaos. I'd like to think that it's not religion itself that keeps us collectively working together though... the statistics certainly don't seem to support it. I am an example of one who has no religion yet adheres to the morals of my society (to the same degree that any religious person would). It is satisfying to me to help someone out who I will never get anything back from in return sometimes. Do I think religion could have been useful and still might be useful? Yes. Do I think it will always be useful? Probably not, especially if someone who believes in the Rapture has no problem starting a global nuclear war. Religion caused the twin towers to crash, and it also paved the way for civil rights. Religion might not be inherently good nor bad for survival... it could be both at this point.

 

[Patashu]

answer this for me from an evolution view point,, If evolution is true and there is no God, no one to believe in, God, gods, flying space monkeys. then why? would evolution instill in its evolution the God gene... why? did religion come about, after all you say their is no God... why? if you land on some island in the south pacific and find natives that has never heard from the outside world, they are worshiping something, water, trees, moon, sun or stars, or whatever the case might be... maybe, could it be that God has put that in our hearts.. after all creation cries out to a creator.... and I'm just saying God gene for sake of argument....

Evolution did not strive specifically to achieve religious belief. The reason religion sits so well with humans is because of a psychological phenomenon known as agent detection; if we identify an effect with an unknown cause (ie seeing bushes rustle out of the corner of your eye) you are more likely to perscribe and look for an agent-based cause then a non-agent-based cause. This is because the bush containing, say, a dangerous animal is far more concerning then it not, and the kind of thing that should be looked for first.
In a similar vein, mankind who does not know everything about his surroundings will tend to anthropomorphize reality and nature; perscribing agent-based causes to effects they see but do not understand. Religion and spirituality is thus such a universal concept because of agent detection.