Source: Science 20
By Nury Vittachi | July 6th 2014 08:03 PM | 171 comments
WHILE MILITANT ATHEISTS like Richard Dawkins may be convinced God doesn’t exist, God, if he is around, may be amused to find that atheists might not exist.
Cognitive scientists are becoming increasingly aware that a metaphysical outlook may be so deeply ingrained in human thought processes that it cannot be expunged.
While this idea may seem outlandish—after all, it seems easy to decide not to believe in God—evidence from several disciplines indicates that what you actually believe is not a decision you make for yourself. Your fundamental beliefs are decided by much deeper levels of consciousness, and some may well be more or less set in stone.
This line of thought has led to some scientists claiming that “atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” says Graham Lawton, an avowed atheist himself, writing in the New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”
Recent polls in USA have suggested that only 10% of population is comfortable with completely atheistic perspective to our lives.
I for one, believe in nothing. No ghosts, no gods, no life after death. My energy will blend back into the universe. I do however believe in the complexity of the human mind, and spiritual experiences and apparitions are nothing more than neural tics and projections of self. Hynagogia and temporal lobe anomalies that can be duplicated in numerous studies, show the god we seek is an anticlimactic us. God is an imagination. Positive emotions and the conversion process is fairly well understood at this point, and can even be duplicated with a lie.
Where do true dreams come from? Where we believe that God the creator tells us something which might happen years in the future?
Good morning Rafig. Big question. Here is a short summary, but a lot to think about. During sleep our neurology is quite vulnerable. Brain cells shrink, cerebral fluid is shifting, swashing, cleansing, draining, refilling, etc. Dreams are a natural process of neural cleansing, resting, and reboot. Hynogogia (excellent wiki) and OBE’s’ phantom limbs, and visions, according to research are all linked to the dream state, and nothing more than projections of self. It’s not really complicated. Most “dreamers” as you referred have extremely ambiguous (and occasionally lucky predictions that could go a myriad of directions). Muhammad (pbuh) was a visionary man, a dreamer that got scientifically close on a few points, but so have I. I have problem solving, intuitive dreams frequently (even as a non believer), and it is merely dreams based on things we’ve been contemplating. Mohammed’s (pbuh) mention of how the earth was made (mountains) is difficult wording to determine that he “nailed it” but a believer, through faith, will find a correlation even where there is none—in every religion. This could get very long and detailed if you have the time, google the terms I listed with religion and see for yourself. Our brains are quite fascinating and understanding of how it works has made huge strides the past few years. I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge, but there are some things I don’t know and I will say so. Respectfully—Jim