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A Templeton Conversation: Does science make belief in God obsolete?

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:33:09 -0000

Posted by: amortal

Religion is a product of evolution, software suggests - being-human - 27 May 2008 - Print Article - New Scientist

Tue, 27 May 2008 14:11:31 -0000

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

"If a person is willing to sacrifice for an abstract god then people feel like they are willing to sacrifice for the community,"

Theories on the evolution of religion tend toward two camps. One argues that

religion is a mental artefact

, co-opted from brain functions that evolved for other tasks.

Aiding the people

Another contends that religion benefited our ancestors. Rather than being a by-product of other brain functions, it is an adaptation in its own right. In this explanation, natural selection slowly purged human populations of the non-religious.

The model assumes, in other words, that a small number of people have a genetic predisposition to communicate unverifiable information to others. They passed on that trait to their children, but they also interacted with people who didn't spread unreal information.

The model looks at the reproductive success of the two sorts of people – those who pass on real information, and those who pass on unreal information.

Under most scenarios, "believers in the unreal" went extinct. But when Dow included the assumption that non-believers would be attracted to religious people because of some clear, but arbitrary, signal, religion flourished.

Tags: religion science

Posted by: amortal

The Neural Buddhists - New York Times

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:25:30 -0000

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

the militant materialism of some modern scientists.

To these self-confident researchers, the idea that the spirit might exist apart from the body is just ridiculous. Instead, everything arises from atoms. Genes shape temperament. Brain chemicals shape behavior. Assemblies of neurons create consciousness. Free will is an illusion. Human beings are “hard-wired” to do this or that. Religion is an accident.

In this materialist view, people perceive God’s existence because their brains have evolved to confabulate belief systems.

the genetic and neuroscience revolutions would affect public debate. They would kick off another fundamental argument over whether God exists.

The cognitive revolution is not going to end up undermining faith in God, it’s going to end up challenging faith in the Bible.

This new wave of research will not seep into the public realm in the form of militant atheism. Instead it will lead to what you might call neural Buddhism.

First, the self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships. Second, underneath the patina of different religions, people around the world have common moral intuitions. Third, people are equipped to experience the sacred, to have moments of elevated experience when they transcend boundaries and overflow with love. Fourth, God can best be conceived as the nature one experiences at those moments, the unknowable total of all there is.

the faithful have been defending the existence of God. That was the easy debate.

The real challenge is going to come from people who feel the existence of the sacred, but who think that particular religions are just cultural artifacts built on top of universal human traits.

In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation.

Tags: neuroscience religion science

Posted by: amortal

Salon.com Life | You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:23:42 -0000

Tags: mysticism religion science

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The Book of Creation

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:09:36 -0000

Tags: creationism humor science

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The Observer - Interface of science, faith to be analyzed

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:06:52 -0000

Tags: faith science

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Seed: Suspending Life

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:30:15 -0000

Tags: evolution science

Posted by: amortal

3.06: A Globe, Clothing Itself with a Brain

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:00:00 -0000

Tags: faith god science teilhard

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Teilhard de Chardin's Evolutionary Philosophy

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:59:23 -0000

Tags: faith philosophy science teilhard

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CMC Magazine: Teilhard de Chardin and the Noosphere

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:58:44 -0000

Tags: faith noosphere science teilhard

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TEILHARD DE CHARDIN

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:49:33 -0000

Tags: faith god science teilhard

Posted by: amortal

CrossCurrents magazine: the best thought and writing on religion and the world. Crosscurrents. Cross Currents.

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:48:52 -0000

Tags: faith god imported powermarks science

Posted by: amortal

God and Science

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:47:49 -0000

Tags: faith god science

Posted by: amortal

Rupert Sheldrake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:20:45 -0000

Tags: metaphysics science

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Rupert Sheldrake Online - Homepage

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:16:29 -0000

Tags: biology evolution metaphysics science

Posted by: amortal

INTEGRALWORLD.NET - EXPLORING THEORIES OF EVERYTHING

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:58:54 -0000

Tags: religion science wilber

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Where angels no longer fear to tread

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:53:49 -0000

Tags: religion science

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BYU NewsNet - Lecture Examines Evolution, Religion

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:39:41 -0000

Tags: religion science

Posted by: amortal

Not Mutually Exclusive

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:15:42 -0000

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

"Many today are hungering for an authentic spirituality that is intellectually honest and at home in a scientific era," the UCC's pastoral letter states. "They are searching for a new kind of wisdom to live by, one that is scientifically sophisticated, technologically advanced, morally just, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually alive."

Tags: dialogue religion science

Posted by: amortal

Cleric Urges a Science and Religion Dialogue - New York Times

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:59:10 -0000

Tags: dialogue religion science

Posted by: amortal