A new theory in The Phantom God proposes a believers sense of God’s presence stems from their love of mother
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/dec-17-o...-1.6688583
INTRO: The intense feelings that believers in religion describe as the sensation of being in the presence of — or being embraced by — God, but where do those strong intuitions come from?
A neuroscientist-turned-computational biologist lays out a provocative theory in his new book, where he argues that the connection to God that some people feel comes from the same neural circuitry behind an infant's love for their mother.
Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald spoke with John Wathey, author of The Phantom God: What neuroscience reveals about the compulsion to believe, about the evidence for this theory.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
EXCERPT: . . . I argue the selective evolutionary pressure is for the survival of helpless human infants...
[...] What I argue is that the human brain has been shaped so that a newborn infant expects the existence of another being who is nurturing and protecting, and who will respond to cries. And this innate neural circuitry survives in the brain into adulthood, but normally lies dormant.
Yet, especially in situations where a person is in a moment of crisis or helplessness that mimics the helplessness of infancy, this circuitry can be triggered. And when it is, it gives rise to this vague sense of the existence of some amorphous primordial saviour out there somewhere... (MORE - missing details and podcast)
The Thinking Atheist: "The Phantom God" with Jack C Wathey
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NS3Re599kOM
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/dec-17-o...-1.6688583
INTRO: The intense feelings that believers in religion describe as the sensation of being in the presence of — or being embraced by — God, but where do those strong intuitions come from?
A neuroscientist-turned-computational biologist lays out a provocative theory in his new book, where he argues that the connection to God that some people feel comes from the same neural circuitry behind an infant's love for their mother.
Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald spoke with John Wathey, author of The Phantom God: What neuroscience reveals about the compulsion to believe, about the evidence for this theory.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
EXCERPT: . . . I argue the selective evolutionary pressure is for the survival of helpless human infants...
[...] What I argue is that the human brain has been shaped so that a newborn infant expects the existence of another being who is nurturing and protecting, and who will respond to cries. And this innate neural circuitry survives in the brain into adulthood, but normally lies dormant.
Yet, especially in situations where a person is in a moment of crisis or helplessness that mimics the helplessness of infancy, this circuitry can be triggered. And when it is, it gives rise to this vague sense of the existence of some amorphous primordial saviour out there somewhere... (MORE - missing details and podcast)
The Thinking Atheist: "The Phantom God" with Jack C Wathey