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posted by martyb on Thursday November 09 2017, @06:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the "number-of-the-beast"-is-natural,-whole,-rational,-real,-AND-imaginary dept.

Religious beliefs are not linked to intuition or rational thinking, according to new research by the universities of Coventry and Oxford. Previous studies have suggested people who hold strong religious beliefs are more intuitive and less analytical, and when they think more analytically their religious beliefs decrease.

But new research, by academics from Coventry University's Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science and neuroscientists and philosophers at Oxford University, suggests that is not the case, and that people are not 'born believers'. The study -- which included tests on pilgrims taking part in the famous Camino de Santiago and a brain stimulation experiment -- found no link between intuitive/analytical thinking, or cognitive inhibition (an ability to suppress unwanted thoughts and actions), and supernatural beliefs.

Instead, the academics conclude that other factors, such as upbringing and socio-cultural processes, are more likely to play a greater role in religious beliefs.

[Abstract]: Supernatural Belief Is Not Modulated by Intuitive Thinking Style or Cognitive Inhibition

Would you agree with this conclusion or do you believe that there is something else that influences people's religious beliefs ?


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  • (Score: 1) by MindEscapes on Friday November 10 2017, @03:57PM (2 children)

    by MindEscapes (6751) on Friday November 10 2017, @03:57PM (#595162) Homepage

    Would you know good was good without suffering to compare it to? It would just be what is and no longer good.

    --
    Need a break? mindescapes.net may be for you!
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:34PM (#595174)

    Sure, you can have gradations of goodness without having evil to compare it against. For example, allowing people to starve is evil, not sharing when they would otherwise be fine is neutral, sharing delicious food is good. You can know that sharing is better when compared against not sharing, you don't need to have the people starving to death to know that.

  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday November 10 2017, @05:05PM

    by Wootery (2341) on Friday November 10 2017, @05:05PM (#595196)

    The proposed god is all powerful. That has to include the ability to create a universe in which pleasure can exist without pain.

    Whether us humans can know pleasure without pain, is hardly the point. The whole system can be blamed on god.