I became an atheist at least partly because of my experiences with “Christians”. Sure, their failure to be able to answer the most obvious (to me at least) questions about their beliefs in relation to the reality that modern science has revealed was an issue. However, far more important was the behaviour of many “Christians”, observed and …
Well, what does the evidence show? As an atheist, one of my most firmly held beliefs was in the natural goodness of people, even if it was only a consequence of a materialistic evolutionary process.It usually goes without saying that, in most of us at least, resides a fundamental belief in what it means to …
Well, we convince ourselves that it’s because we have found the truth of the matter in question. But is this itself actually true? Are we in fact interested in Truth at all? Or is there something else in our nature that is more likely to drive what we believe? Something that overrides …
Why do people believe what they believe? (Part 1) Read More »
In a recent study conducted by Stephen Fleming et al (1), and funded by the Wellcome Trust (which was the only non-government sponsor of the Human Genome Project), it seems that development of a crucial aspect of advanced thinking in individuals – known as metacognition – is primarily the result of: Cultural environment, and, if …
Why do people believe what they believe? (Part 2) Read More »
Or, for this episode, what we should learn from history but don’t! As an atheist I was always proud to point to science as a transcendental reason for my enlightenment, and in fact I still do. The little I have learned about our universe and how it works (speaking relative to what there is …
Why do people believe what they believe? (Part 3) Read More »
