Are Humans hard-wired for religion as a natural form of

[annabanana]

population control?

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. You mean if people didn't "worship" they'd..... procreate?

I'm not sure there's a connection there.

[annabanana]

2. No.. They just kill each other in mass quantities to prove the superiority of "their" god...n/t

[yallerdawg]

3. I think males in particular are hard-wired for the biological imperative.

Females are hard-wired for successful secure reproduction. More selective than males!

There is a range of maladaptive behaviors within the species.

Religion is a tool for control, of nurture, not nature. At best, it is an unnatural form of population control.

[annabanana]

4. Maybe it was unintended for differing belief systems

to bump up against each other the was they do... The success (numerically) of the human race outstrips it's biology.

[Conch]

5. Not sure

I think the biological imperative of reproduction lies mostly with the females. Not a lot of guys talk about their biological clock ticking. Guys have a biological fondness for ejaculating... reproductive or not.


Females face the pain of birth and continue to do so.

If that sort of pain were projected onto the men...infants would become scarce.

[yallerdawg]

7. By biological imperative...

I mean the innate, cell-level compulsion to reproduce and dominate the gene pool.

The old story - President and Mrs. Truman were visiting a chicken ranch. Their guide was telling them all these chickens were serviced by the one rooster.

Mrs. Truman noted this one rooster could go and go and go! "Do you hear that, Harry?" she marveled.

Harry Truman asked the guide, "Is it the same chicken he goes at?" The guide said "No, all the chickens." Harry Truman winked at his wife and said, "You hear that?"

[Conch]

6. Not in my opinion.

Religion is but just one way of exerting power. There are many others, religion has just been around forever.

Plus, religions, many of them, advocate for procreation to boost numbers and denounce measures to limit birth.

[kairos12]

9. I think hard-wired

because they are afraid of oblivion--death.

[david.byrne59]

10. Totally....totally....totally....nope :)

I think humans are hard-wired for religion for the purpose of explaining the unexplainable. As science has progress the things that were once attributed to the gods were rationally accounted for and so were no longer attributed to the gods....but the rest of the unexplained stuff was (and still is). To a degree, fear of the unknown has pushed the advancement of science as much as it once did the belief in a higher power...

[gagelle]

11. I would say psychologically hard wired.

I'm an admirer of Carl Jung for the way he was able to systematize and objectify the human psyche through his studies of dreams and active fantasy. (Joseph Campbell took Dr. Jung's ideas further into the field of mythology.) Carl Jung stated unequivocally that we need a deity (Or deities) to become whole people. I will describe a case of his as an example: He had a female patient with a neurotic condition called a father complex. This complex involves an infantile attachment to one's real father. It will block the progression into adult relationships, as any potential male could never meet the perfect, idealized image of the father. During her analysis, the patient had a recurring dream of standing in a beautiful field with a warm, embracing wind, that gave her a feeling of bliss. Dr. Jung was at first perplexed by the dream's meaning. Through mythological research, he discovered primitive tribes that worshiped a wind god, which he termed Wotan. His patient was cured when Dr. Jung realized that her psyche was spontaneously producing the deity that she needed to become a whole person. He encouraged her to integrate this god into her life. By doing so, she was able to discard the infantile worship of her real father.

It is important to understand that in Jungian thought, the word god does not necessarily mean the Judeo-Christian God. According to Jung, the human psyche is always striving for wholeness. If one's psyche is unbalanced or blocked, the unconscious will produce material in an attempt to restore balance. An unbalanced psyche will result in a painful neuroses, or worse.

So my answer is yes. We need a deity to be healthy, whole people.

[muhamed g]

12. wired

I don't believe humans are wired. We can overcome.

[realmirage]

13. It started as seeking but is a tool for human impulses

like greed and power. Humans will use literally anything for gain. Religions get hijacked like everything else.

[kairos12]

15. I would say hard-wired to

Last edited Tue Feb 19, 2019, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

fear death. Thus, the creation of alternative ways to find relief in the face of demise. Some religions are better at providing this relief than others.