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stop reading timecube, you'll get brainwashed

Night.

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My boss has just turned up and wanted to know why I'm still in the same clothes as yesterday and haven't slept yet so have been sent home to sleep.
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i did that once when i was working on an adjudication response. started work at 9am on thursday, finsihed at lunchtime on friday

jpb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergent_evolution

I'm glad I ducked out of this convo to watch teh footie and came back just in time for the conclusion you were getting at :D Not sure if it's convergent evolution, or parallel evolution but I think it is more likely logical conclusion given a certain level of ignorance and a need to explain some incredibly abstract concepts.

cheers reggie. will have a loook in a bit/later

We don't actually know how far back the thought of a god goes, how far civilisations had to evolve to actually have salient thought processes to come up with a god, so I wonder if they were evolved enough before the first humans spread out across the planet?

Wonder if they would ever be a point where you evolve beyond such a concept. Futurama style immortality when your own mortality is less of an issue your consciousness would be less likely to seek out a what happens next solution .

reggie - that was option B

Futurama style immortality when your own mortality is less of an issue your consciousness would be less likely to seek out a what happens next solution .
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that's basically what i was saying earlier i think, when i said that the reason we're getting less religious isnt because of scientific breakthroughs, it's because we're just too busy to think about or "need" it.

having had a quick look at this divergent evolution thing, i dont think it's our answer.

it's no great surprise in my book, that several different types of animal have inddependently solved the problem of how to get from here to there, by flying.

that's not the same thing though as i see it, as developing a belief in god.

with reference to my earlier point about it being one thing different communities all solving the creation problem by applying their minds in a logical way, uit's quite another for them to all come up with the same answer. wihlst wings are the answer i suppose, what other answers could there be. with the supreme being, not only are there a higher number of communities that believe in it than there are animal species which have wings, but whereas wings are just about the only slution if you want to fly somewhere, believing in a supreme being which is responsbile for creation and the afterlife, is only one of many solutions for the creation question.

for me that brings us back to either us being hard wired to beleive in god, or some massive event happening in our very early days which was so significant that it stayed with us whereever we went.

How did we get on to Futurama?

Wow - nearly a 500 comment thread

very proud

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mine got to 420, but they wouldnt multiboard it

oh this one's only on 2 boards ? i thought it was a multi one.

soz

the people on easter island dont know about the big bang do they ????

aborigines dont know about the big bang.

they all have/had gods.
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The big bang was an example to suggest the invocation of god in response to the unknown. People throughout the ages have 'created' gods as a psychological crutch to try to help them overcome adversity and seek control over forces that they do not understand Create a god, make sacrifices to him/her/it to get them onside and then implore their assistance against whatever adversity they face.

The rapa nui of eater island and the aborigines didn't know about the big bang but they certainly faced adversity and the creation of gods was a natural response.

What exactly is you argument? You are obviously correct that cultures throughout history have worshipped gods. Were these gods all the same supreme being? Is Thor exactly the same god as Apollo? Or did they all just make up gods to suit their needs and wants?

i guess my point is that if i am born on to this earth and grow up on it in isolation, i will probably wonder about all sorts of things. these are likely to include how my kind was created, what happens to me when i die. i suppose i might also wish that there was someone watching over me. i dont think i would wonder where the earth came from tbh though, and think i would assume that it had just always been there.

my point is, that i would have thought that the chances that i would react to these uncertainties and aspirations (amongst the myriad of other uncertainties and aspirations that i had) by concluding that there were was some supreme being which looked a bit like me and was responsible for each of a) the creation of the world b) the creation of my kind c) watching over me d) governing my afterlife, were very remote. there are so many alternative conclusions i couldt come to.

yet, what we have pointed it, is that almost every community and culture in the history of the world has (apparently independently) come to an almost identical set of conclusions.

my point is, that there needs to be a reason for this, as it can not be explained by the laws of probability.

why do all cultures decide that that external force is still watching over us, and that the same force will play some sort of role in our afterlife or next life.

everyone comes to the same conclusion, and they have done for the whole of mankind's history so far as we know.

why ????
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Basic human insecurity. Everyone feels vulnerable in the face of nature's power. It is therefore a natural response to seek solace through the invocation of a higher being who you can call on for assistance.

Its also very natural in the face of impending death to hope for the existence of eternal bliss. I doubt there is anyone who ever lived who would not want that. Its only a short step to creating a belief system that would provide for that possibility. Alternatively god may have imbued in us all an inherent belief in his/her/its existence. Impossible to prove or disprove as is everything else where god is concerned.

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Alternatively god may have imbued in us all an inherent belief in his/her/its existence.
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yes, this is one of the options which we have discussed.