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Evolution may have delivered tendencies to believe certain things but that does not tell us whether those beliefs are true. There are risks in making up evolutionary “just-so” stories to explain the origins of complex human beliefs, such as religious ones. Evolutionary biology will be of little help in “explaining” human beliefs in either quantum mechanics or the finer points of theology.
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I’ve often wondered why believers don’t make a bigger deal out of the fact the majority of the species seems to be highly susceptible to religious belief, which would superficially seem to point to there being some evolutionary advantage to such belief. They could even say that the advantage must be because belief connects people to a real God who really helps them, which isn’t even a big stretch by theological standards.
Anyway, this article would be a good way to refute any believer who did take that tack.
posted on January 23, 2011report this as inappropriate
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