Humans Are Hardwired for Religion

I once tried to convince a creationist that evolution was real. Turns out, it’s like trying to teach a fish to ride a bicycle. This guy, Bruce Hood, he’s a professor at Bristol University. He’s got this crazy idea that our brains are like supernatural belief vending machines, pre-loaded from birth.

Hood says magical thinking is hardwired into our grey matter, like a factory setting we can’t change. It’s as if our brains come with a “Believe in Weird Stuff” app pre-installed, and there’s no uninstall button.

He thinks fighting against irrational beliefs is like trying to punch fog. You might feel like you’re doing something, but the fog doesn’t care. Religions, according to Hood, are just tapping into this built-in belief system. It’s like they found the cheat codes to our brains.

Hood argues that using rational evidence to change someone’s deep-seated beliefs is about as effective as using a feather to knock down a brick wall. You might ruffle a few feathers, but the wall’s not going anywhere.

So, just remember, if someone appears to be running an operating system that underprioritizes logic, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

I also once tried to explain evolution to God. He said, “That’s not how I remember it.”

Maybe evolution is just God’s way of playing The Sims on a really slow computer. Or maybe God evolved and we’re still catching up. It’s like saying there’s both a chef and a recipe – one doesn’t necessarily cancel out the other. Maybe God’s just sitting back, watching evolution unfold, thinking, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming.” Or maybe evolution is God’s way of keeping himself entertained for eternity. After all, even omnipotence must get boring sometimes.

Read More
^{[1] https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Bruce-Hood-6de6dd5c-4eb7-4d97-bb22-31aba1416ffc/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Hood_(psychologist)
[3] https://closertotruth.com/contributor/bruce-hood/
[4] https://brucemhood.wordpress.com/about/
[5] https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/bruce-m-hood
[6] https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/news/2024/116.html
[7] https://science-happiness.com
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception}