You continue to downplay human intelligence, implying it is similar to other animals, when that is not the case based on observed evidence.
You say it doesn't take special thinking to create placebos to downplay fears and the unknown, but since humanity is the only creature to do so, it would appear that is exactly what it takes.
But you are basing this on the assumption there is no God or spiritual nature to connect to. No... it takes real ******* moronic idiots to imagine something that isn't there in order to console fear and the unknown, and then do that their entire existence. They would have to completely abandon rational thought to do so. This is primarily why I don't believe that's what happened.
Even if other animals do that kind of thing, since they don't appear to have the complex languages that humanity does (yet another unique human achievement attributable to our intelligence), it would be hard to be certain of it.
We are certain that most mammals and primates DO have language and communicate. Crows have over 250 calls in their vocabulary and regional dialect. They can communicate to other crows about hostile humans and the other crows can recognize said humans without ever having seen them before, and this information is passed down generationally. Ants and bees communicate without language at all and do so to peak efficiency. Whales can communicate with each other for miles under the ocean... you tried doing that lately?
Because our actual "intelligence" is not that different. Some animals are more intelligent than us on certain things... do you know which flowers to pollinate and when? Do you know when there is a fire in the forest? Can you smell food 5 miles away? Can you put your body into a state of hibernation for the winter? Other animals do all kinds of amazing things with their intelligence, but they are not spiritually connected to something greater than self. They can't find inspirational motivation to push the limits of imagination and take their species where it's never gone before. Humans do this because we are spiritually connected.
And this is where you're just flat out wrong on numerous levels. The "observable evidence" is humanity, and how it is vastly different from everything including our supposed common ancestors. Spirituality was not invented and it didn't evolve into man. We humans didn't just pop onto the scene 100k years ago and start doing what no other creature before humans could do because of our superior brains. If that were so, we'd see other species evolving with similar characteristics, especially those who have been evolving much longer than humans. Why aren't the great apes at least developing language and chiseling out wheels from stone? The "observable evidence" suggests that humans have something the other animals don't, and that something is an intrinsic spiritual connection with something greater than self.
You said that courage
requires fear. Now you are saying courage
overcomes fear. If it overcomes it, then it can't require it. Courage is the
opposite of fear, and if you want to pretend that isn't true or there is some other antonym we can apply, then so be it. I am
NOT PLAYING!
I don't know why you think there would be no wars, murder or strife if everyone used logic and common sense. But okay, sometimes people do ignore common sense and logic, this thread is a good example of that. 88% of the ******* species hasn't ignored logic and common sense for all of our existence, unless we're all retards.
Besides, religion does provide answers to the unknown. What happens when you die? You go to some sort of afterlife, you are reincarnated, etc. How was the universe created? God did it. How should I live, what should I teach my children? Here, read this sacred text and follow these rules. Even if it's all untrue, to the believer it is not, so it has the same effect.
Hold on a minute... What happens when you die? Your physical organism stops living, but what happens to your spirit? This is unknown and no religion or science can provide evidence. How was the universe created? Science and religion don't have an answer. "God did it" doesn't answer the question. How did God do it? We don't know. How do I live, what do I teach my children... well what's wrong with teaching them to live like animals in the wild and survival of the fittest? Kill or be killed? That's how other animals deal with that question, it's not an unknown at all.
You're not presenting very good reasons for mankind to invent some imaginary thing that isn't real in order to answer questions that it either can't answer or doesn't need to answer. It makes no rational sense whatsoever.
I've repeatedly said that you may be correct, the point is that even if you are, the evidence for that is far, far from conclusive.
Well let's be clear, if anyone here had what we could all agree is "conclusive evidence" ...for ANYTHING... we would probably not be having this conversation. Maybe that point eludes you?