Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and thats not a joke [View all]

[guillaumeb]

From the somewhat long article:

Cognitive scientists are becoming increasingly aware that a metaphysical outlook may be so deeply ingrained in human thought processes that it cannot be expunged....

    While this idea may seem outlandish—after all, it seems easy to decide not to believe in God—evidence from several disciplines indicates that what you actually believe is not a decision you make for yourself.....

    This line of thought has led to some scientists claiming that “atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” says Graham Lawton, an avowed atheist himself, writing in the New Scientist.......

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we are born believers, not atheists, scientists say....

“A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith,” writes Pascal Boyer in Nature, the science journal, adding that people “are only aware of some of their religious ideas”.

To read more:

http://www.science20.com/writer_on_the_edge/blog/scientists_discover_that_atheists_might_not_exist_and_thats_not_a_joke-139982

A suggestion that humans are hardwired to religious belief makes sense if one realizes that apparently homo sapiens have shown evidence of religion for hundreds of thousands of years.