Humans Hardwired to Believe in Supernatural Deity?

dohcrx writes "According to a Sunday New York Times article, 6 in 10 Americans believe in the devil and hell, 7 in 10 believe in angels, heaven and the existence of miracles and life after death, while 92% believe in a personal God. The article explores the possibility that this belief structure may be ingrained into our genetic makeup. 'When a trait is universal, evolutionary biologists look for a genetic explanation and wonder how that gene or genes might enhance survival or reproductive success ... Which is the better biological explanation for a belief in God — evolutionary adaptation or neurological accident? Is there something about the cognitive functioning of humans that makes us receptive to belief in a supernatural deity?'"

Comments

Re:More like social conditioning

[Lord Kano]

What if you believe in UFOs, God, that 9/11 was carried out by middle eastern terrorists and that Israel had an idea but stayed silent because they knew that the US retaliation would mean that they didn't have to do their own dirty work?

LK

Re:Logically

[CRCulver]

The ontological argument evidently hasn't been refuted, since it is now very popular in a modified form and used by a number of theists, most notably Platinga (though Swinburne is seemingly not interested).

Re:Their conclusion is so bad it's just plain sill

[the_REAL_sam]

Sure, no problem, I'll make a note to send you a detailed email probably tomorrow.