Imagine , it's easy if you try . Did humans need religion ever at any time in our existence ? What would our history have been like and our present be like if religion had never existed or had just faded out of existence 5,000 years ago ? Did religion create order out of chaos or did it put humanity into chains ? What are the dynamics of a religion-less world that would have been most influential towards significantly different results ?
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ldheinz
Level 7
Aug 1, 2018
0
I woulda hoped to see more trees in this advanced version of reality .
So would I, but I didn't draw it.
The "utility" of religion is evident. Consider that a belief in 'evil spirits' predates a belief in a so-called 'good God.' Then consider that we might not have survived to procreate were it not for a predilection toward being 'agency detectors' and attribute intention to natural phenomena--false positives in the direction of safety ensure survival, not only of the genes, but of memes.
Religion is the byproduct of superstitious thinking, which was an inevitable, if not necessary, hand hold to our survival. The point now is that, while religion may have played a useful role in our evolution, it almost goes without saying that it has outlived its usefulness!
p-nullifidian
Level 8
July 29, 2018
0
Man has always feared, and worshipped, the unknown. Is that part of the nature of man?
ezwryder
Level 7
July 28, 2018
1
I don't think worship or superstitious fear is ' a religion " until its developed an organized hierarchy of humans to enforce its dictates , at least not a modern religion ?
Once a ' religion' exist only as an enforced or coerced mandate upon humans by other humans , then it can't be considered a natural phenomenon as it doesnt arise naturally but is manufactured .
Hurts my head to imagine how much different humanity would have been without religion! I think it would have been much better, but who knows what other twisted ideas could have come from man or woman to take it’s place. ?
M4Amama
Level 6
July 28, 2018
2
Yeah , idk iif theres any logical conclusions possible about ' what might have happened otherwise ' .
Hafta think on that tomorrow .
The pertinent question, is did they feel they needed it? Because they clearly did.
Why? Because natural selection has not bothered to make us Spock-like rationalists, in fact, it has selected us to be extremely prone to confirmation bias and related things that were a great survival advantage in the pre-urban, pre-technological era, especially the hunter-gatherer phase of humanity -- but ill serve us now.
Religion didn't create order out of chaos, not directly anyway, but it eased the terror of mortality and the frustration of life's absurdities (which used to be a lot bigger and seemingly more concrete than they are today). It provided quasi-"explanations" and faux "hope". It kept people reproducing.
Natural selection is a bitch. It optimizes for survival, not for thriving or enjoyment.
mordant
Level 8
July 28, 2018
1
Hmmmm...I don't think the word ' they ' could be rightly used to include everyone through all periods of history !
I think it might be rightly more inclusive the further back in time we ponder , to when there were only small scale tribal chiefs and no kings ...
But once Large scale Kings and kingships arrived on the scene ,, then I think it was the Kings who made gods to be a mandatory social proposition as a means of being able to allow his peasants to blame someone other than himself for their misfortunes ?
I think there was much less voluntary compliance with religiion as a generally personal existential coping mechanism .
I think it was moreso imposed upon conquered cultures by armies and slave masters with whips like american plantation slaves were converted .
@Scottzillyun Hunter-gatherer era religion was inherently more personal to tribal level, as it was generally some form of animism or ancestor worship that didn't lend itself to lots of universal structural elements like dogma / doctrine and holy books. As it evolved into polytheism and monotheism, it became easier for governments to manipulate and use in various ways, as you point out.
To the point of the OP, I think religion arose organically and arguably was needed; I simply think it has largely outgrown its usefulness and relevance and is starting to fade in importance. The open question is how rapidly and completely that will happen.
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