The simple brilliance of Darwin's revelation

[ding]

I won the discussion pages ago, Fort Fun Indiana . I'm just rubbing your nose in now.

1. Natural selection has two components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation.
2. More successful models propagate.
3. So since religion HAS existed for thousands of years in overwhelming numbers across every single society, according to Darwin its continued existence was for a logical reason and that logical reason is that religion offers a functional advantage that atheism does not.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I won the discussion pages ago.

If declarations of victory were actual victories, every religious nutter on this board that pollutes the science section would be an 11 star general by now.

 

[ding]

Victory lap....

1. Natural selection has two components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation.

2. More successful models propagate.

3. So since religion HAS existed for thousands of years in overwhelming numbers across every single society, according to Darwin its continued existence was for a logical reason and that logical reason is that religion offers a functional advantage that atheism does not.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I won the discussion pages ago, Fort Fun Indiana . I'm just rubbing your nose in now.

1. Natural selection has two components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation.
2. More successful models propagate.
3. So since religion HAS existed for thousands of years in overwhelming numbers across every single society, according to Darwin its continued existence was for a logical reason and that logical reason is that religion offers a functional advantage that atheism does not.

Even if that were all accurate (it isn't), we have learned a lot about evolution since Darwin bought it. One thing we have learned is that traits that are now useless can persist for quite a while.

While it may be true that believing magical nonsense was once an advantage for those who displayed that trait (note that doesnt mean necessary or advantageous for the entire species, just that they enjoyed an advantage over the individuals who did not possess the trait), it may also be true that this trait is now useless or a disadvantage.

 

[abu afak]

3. So since religion HAS existed for thousands of years in overwhelming numbers across every single society, according to Darwin its continued existence was for a logical reason and that logical reason is that religion offers a functional advantage that atheism does not.

3. You're confusing Remnants of primitiveness with advantages of evolution.
Not every stupid human remnant (ie, the related Superstition, or Hallucinogenic drug use) means it's an evolutionary advantage.

In the most advanced countries Religion is fading, and even vanishing, while it does well in the most backwards.

Love your argument for ie, Voodoo, Santeria, and hallucinogens as necessarily evolutionary advantaged.
Aztecs love sacrificing each other as did many other now gone/FAILED religions and Failed peoples.

BTW, you're a stupid Last-Wording ***hole whose every opinion is wrong and I can Gut.


EDIT:
And please note DingDing did NOT quote me or address my refutation of is ILLogical POS despite making consecutive TROLLING Last-word posts below.
His usual trying barrage/frequency instead of the IQ he lacks.
He Lost again.


`

 

[ding]

Thousands of years of continued existence, in overwhelming numbers, across every single society...

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Thousands of years of continued existence, in overwhelming numbers, across every single society...

View attachment 552270

But enough about hallucinations and false memories. And mental illness. And delusion.

 

[ding]

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Once again circling back to survivorship bias:

The reason we have the few major religions of today is because their followers were very adept at both killing off the competition and at indoctrinating entire societies. Functional advantage? Maybe. It would seem to me the functional advantage here came from power, not any quality or characteristic of the religions at issue. .

Had history gone differently (say, the Huns were more successful), we might have very little religion today, or Paganism might dominate the globe.

 

[ding]

Once again circling back to survivorship bias:

The reason we have the few major religions of today is because their followers were very adept at both killing off the competition and at indoctrinating entire societies. Functional advantage? Maybe. It would seem to me the functional advantage here came from power, not any quality or characteristic of the religions at issue. .

Had history gone differently (say, the Huns were more successful), we might have very little religion today, or Paganism might dominate the globe.

Actually Darwin would have said the diversification of religion is quite natural and is exactly what one would expect in nature.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Actually Darwin would have said the diversification of religion is quite natural and is exactly what one would expect in nature.

Then why didn't he? Darwin had a mouth. And he knew how to write.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

So, another artifact of our consciousness is hallucination/false memory, both of which rely heavily on our introspective self awareness and language ability, and which can happen to anyone. They are normal human behaviors. We have to account for them when, for example, interviewing witnesses in an armed robbery.

Do these provide functional advantage? Both have been with us for a long time, maybe since before religion.

It's a tough question to answer. We can probably hypothesize situations where they may provide an advantage.

Same for religion. Even Darwin hypothesized that it may have been an advantage for tribes. Something to strengthen the social bond. But one could surely think of other things that could provide the same function. Like Bowling league. But they didn't have bowling leagues then.

Bowling league participation continues to grow in this country. Religious participation continues to wane. Evolution at work?

 

[ding]

Then why didn't he? Darwin had a mouth. And he knew how to write.

How do you know he didn't?

Konrad Lorenz considered Darwin to be a forerunner of behavioral biology. The reason was to be found in The Descent of Man and chapter VIII of The Origin of Species, where Darwin provides an explanation of behavior through selection, stating that the same mechanisms explaining morphological changes also account for gradual improvements in instincts. He assessed the accuracy of his evolutionary theory by directly studying animal behavior, hence laying the foundations of behavioral research for the next century.

Darwin as a student of behavior

In The Expression of the Emotions, Charles Darwin documents evolutionary continuity between animals and humans, emphasizing the universality of expres…

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[ding]

Religious participation continues to wane. Evolution at work?

Not worldwide. And even those that leave religion do not abandon their spirituality. Lastly, as mankind has gained more and more knowledge of his natural surroundings his desire for spirituality has not diminished. In fact, the more materialistic we became the less satisfied we became.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

How do you know he didn't?

How do you know he didn't believe in unicorns and leprechauns?

He may have believed in both. I don't care.

Just own your own thoughts without always attempting the specious garbage of pretending they come from some authority. Try that for us.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Not worldwide.

Right, just in developed countries. Pretty safe to say it will be worldwide, as the less developed countries become more modern. Their citizens more educated. Which would seem, itself, to be a comment on the intellectualism and primitive nature of religious belief. And its necessity.

 

[Hollie]

Once again circling back to survivorship bias:

The reason we have the few major religions of today is because their followers were very adept at both killing off the competition and at indoctrinating entire societies. Functional advantage? Maybe. It would seem to me the functional advantage here came from power, not any quality or characteristic of the religions at issue. .

Had history gone differently (say, the Huns were more successful), we might have very little religion today, or Paganism might dominate the globe.

Very true. We also know that gods were invented by mankind to explain the workings of nature. Sun gods, Moon gods, gods of lightning and thunder, etc., etc.

It’s interesting, but not surprising, that there have been no new “world” religions invented since Islam co-opted both Judaism and Christianity. Especially as Europe emerged from the Dark Ages and threw off fears and superstitions imposed by the religious authorities, there was simply no need for new religions and new gods to explain a natural world being discovered by scientific inquiry.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Very true. We also know that gods were invented by mankind to explain the workings of nature. Sun gods, Moon gods, gods of lightning and thunder, etc., etc.

It’s interesting, but not surprising, that there have been no new “world” religions invented since Islam co-opted both Judaism and Christianity. Especially as Europe emerged from the Dark Ages and threw off fears and superstitions imposed by the religious authorities, there was simply no need for new religions and new gods to explain a natural world being discovered by scientific inquiry.

And also not surprising that, even still today, we gain and disperse scientific knowledge quite in spite of and in the face of opposition from religion. It was only a few years ago that the Vatican was saying condoms are worse than AIDS.

 

[ding]

How do you know he didn't believe in unicorns and leprechauns?

He may have believed in both. I don't care.

Just own your own thoughts without always attempting the specious garbage of pretending they come from some authority. Try that for us.

But you would care if Darwin believed that religion offered a functional advantage that atheism didn't.

 

[ding]

Right, just in developed countries. Pretty safe to say it will be worldwide, as the less developed countries become more modern. Their citizens more educated. Which would seem, itself, to be a comment on the intellectualism and primitive nature of religious belief. And its necessity.

Protestant Christianity is booming in China

President Xi does not approve

www.economist.com