Religious belief - Who is leading who?

[bodie]

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Interesting article I came across.

Wag the dog comes to mind.

God’s beliefs mirror our own

People often set their moral compasses according to what they presume to be God’s standards, say researchers from the University of Chicago. “The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,” they note. (Credit: Woodcut for “Die Bibel in Bilderm,” 1860, by Julius Shnorr von Carolsfeld)

U. CHICAGO—Religious people tend to use their own beliefs as a guide in thinking about what God believes, but are less constrained when reasoning about other people’s beliefs, according to a new study.

Nicholas Epley, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, led the research, which included a series of survey and neuroimaging studies to examine the extent to which people’s own beliefs guide their predictions about God’s beliefs. The findings—published in the Nov. 30 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)—extend existing work in psychology showing that people are often egocentric when they infer other people’s beliefs.

The PNAS paper reports the results of seven separate studies. The first four include surveys of Boston rail commuters, Chicago undergraduate students, and a nationally representative database of online respondents in the United States. In these surveys, participants reported their own belief about an issue, their estimated God’s belief, along with a variety of others, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Major League Baseball’s Barry Bonds, President George W. Bush, and an average American.

Two other studies directly manipulated people’s own beliefs and found that inferences about God’s beliefs tracked their own beliefs. Study participants were asked, for example, to write and deliver a speech that supported or opposed the death penalty in front of a video camera. Their beliefs were surveyed both before and after the speech.
Epley5_2

Nicholas Epley, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, led the research, which included a series of survey and neuroimaging studies to examine the extent to which people’s own beliefs guide their predictions about God’s beliefs. (Credit: Dan Dry)

The final study involved functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the neural activity of test subjects as they reasoned about their own beliefs versus those of God or another person. The data demonstrated that reasoning about God’s beliefs activated many of the same regions that become active when people reasoned about their own beliefs.

The researchers note that people often set their moral compasses according to what they presume to be God’s standards. “The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,” they conclude. “This research suggests that, unlike an actual compass, inferences about God’s beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.”

But the research in no way denies the possibility that God’s presumed beliefs also may provide guidance in situations where people are uncertain of their own beliefs, the coauthors note.

Researchers from Australia’s Monash University contributed to the study that was funded by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Templeton Foundation, and National Science Foundation.

University of Chicago news: The News Office | The University of Chicago

[bluedes]

nice article.. science will prove the role of religion in society sooner or later..

[bodie]

I hope so.

Dugai naman ko naka bantay that for some reason god is always on the side of this and that. Bahala na if opposing ang uban na views. God will bless this candidate, this view is like this because god says so... blah blah blah

In some way, its kinda logical na basin nag project lang ang uban sa ilahang beliefs and justifying it by saying na ok na kay god. There are core values of the religion, or course, pero when it comes to interpreting certain things...

[bluedes]

I hope so.

Dugai naman ko naka bantay that for some reason god is always on the side of this and that. Bahala na if opposing ang uban na views. God will bless this candidate, this view is like this because god says so... blah blah blah

In some way, its kinda logical na basin nag project lang ang uban sa ilahang beliefs and justifying it by saying na ok na kay god. There are core values of the religion, or course, pero when it comes to interpreting certain things...

.... most people are just plain egotistical about it..


...extend existing work in psychology showing that people are often egocentric when they infer other people’s beliefs...


or infer "God's" beliefs..

[bodie]

...extend existing work in psychology showing that people are often egocentric when they infer other people’s beliefs...


or infer "God's" beliefs..

Isnt that what they call... faith?

Anyway, egocentric behavior is the kind of behavior that makes the most sense from an evolutionary viewpoint. I havnt read anything from a purely psychological standpoint pero im not really surprised by this.

So when someone says its gods will... does it make it a form of trying to control other people then? I imagine it would be easier to sell an idea if you say that god approves of this or something.

[bluedes]

Isnt that what they call... faith?

Anyway, egocentric behavior is the kind of behavior that makes the most sense from an evolutionary viewpoint. I havnt read anything from a purely psychological standpoint pero im not really surprised by this.

So when someone says its gods will... does it make it a form of trying to control other people then? I imagine it would be easier to sell an idea if you say that god approves of this or something.

yeah, i would agree with that also.. its a form of reinforcing your own beliefs by putting it with God kuno..

but not all who says its God's will is very egocentric though.. i mean, i don't want to generalize here.. the stark difference i have noticed is between these two:

1.) People who claim that it is God's will to do this/that
2.) People who merely say to leave it (the future) to God--without specifying any particular outcome

anyway, even between those two, i still think that if there's a certain mention of God, there is some form of egocentricity into it.. maybe 2) is lesser than 1)..

[regnauld]

Interesting article I came across.

Wag the dog comes to mind.

I love that article... very psychological...I will share this to my Psyc major students!

[bluedes]

I love that article... very psychological...I will share this to my Psyc major students!

regards ko sa imong mga students sir reg..

especially ni kato you-know-who..

[regnauld]

regards ko sa imong mga students sir reg..

especially ni kato you-know-who..

Yes sir! Sige ra ba to siya ask nimo! mmmmmm

[bluedes]

Yes sir! Sige ra ba to siya ask nimo! mmmmmm

tell her that she's in my thoughts even from far away..

bitaw, regards ra ko oi..