Book Review: Why We Believe in God(s)

Why We Believe in God(s) - A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith
- Thomson, J. Anderson

Every atheist would have wondered many a time, why people believe in Gods! Why is it difficult to appreciate the 'fact' that we are risen apes and not fallen angels, despite indisputable scientific evidence!

The author, an American forensic psychiatrist, discusses the potential psychological reasons behind people believing in Gods. He claims that after reading the book, that arms extended worshipper not only looks foolish, but also looks infantile. And, I vouch for the veracity of his claim :-)

There is a popular quote by Douglas Adams - Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? On a similar note, atheists might often wonder why believers are so omnipresent? The author convincingly presents several experiments that establish our bias to interpret unclear evidence as being caused by some agent, almost always a humanlike agent, and our ability for self-deception, which is crucial to religious belief. One of the strongest arguments supporting the later claim is, most of the believers live their lives as if there is no God. 

He establishes psychological similarity among the belief in super-nature, craving for sweets and fast-foods, having sex, our groupish nature and the sense of security that it brings, which is so inherent to us etc., Most of these are life-sustaining adaptations by our ancestors that are passed on over and over, for generations. As the survived reproduce, the tribe of the adapted flourished. A few generations later, those who subscribe to these ended up being the majority. These adaptations have something to do with our brain cells. It's experimentally proven that these cells explode with delight causing intense pleasure, when one pursues such adaptations.  Besides, there are 'do-it-again' centres in our brain, which made us do these things, that give us intense pleasure, again and again. Chanting, dancing, praying, singing, music fall in this category, which are so intertwined with several major religions. He also argues that our bias to over-read purpose is another major reason behind our gullibility, which helped religions flourish.

Apparently, without any knowledge of neurochemistry, our ancestors managed to come up with a combination of activities that stimulate and boost neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine etc., which induce brain activity. And, they tied these activities with religion. 

There is a popular argument put forth by some of my believer friends, when I wonder, why some of the chiefs of ISRO follow this ritual of visiting Tirupti to seek divine intervention with a model of the rocket that they are about to launch - it's the psychological benefits that such rituals bring. Now we have a scientific explanation for that - Our brains have some precautionary vigilance systems that get triggered to take actions to allay our anxiety. Religions use precisely these mechanisms that allay anxiety due to the harsh world around us. Our ancestors lived through much harsher world. We inherited their mechanisms.

A quick read that gives a good insight into the scientific reasons behind some of the madness that we see around us, in the name of God, religion and super-nature.