tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post7422169132527458920..comments2023-10-20T02:08:39.524-07:00Comments on Atheism: Proving The Negative: The Evolution of Hating AtheistsMatt McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-53885347204237104772011-01-13T06:30:12.865-08:002011-01-13T06:30:12.865-08:00The atheist is striking a sensitive and raw nerve ...The atheist is striking a sensitive and raw nerve that millions of years deep in our natures, and, predictably, the reactions are visceral, irrational, and passionate. <br /><br />People recognize that religion provides a constraint on action. It makes people passive. The atheist is not so constrained. The atheist has a more direct connection to reality, so has more possible moves in the game of life, making the atheist dangerous from their perspective. Evolutionarily, the atheist has a considerable survival advantage since no time is wasted in meaningless ritual and no constrainst are imposed by fear of eternal punishment. Peeople react to atheists like animals trying to kill or maim potential alphas. According to Social Dominance Theory (Jim Sidanius, Felicia Prato, et. al) There is a strong biological tendency to seek to increase and mainain ones position in a heirarchy, with this tendency being particularly strong in males. Think of it as a modern version of the "will to power." Atheists have the tactical advantage evolutionarily, and religious people recognize this. Their position in the grand evolutionary "heirarchy of predation" as i call it is threatened. So they react to us like we're dangerous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-55896548767590499042011-01-12T20:46:40.623-08:002011-01-12T20:46:40.623-08:00I still think it's important to be out there a...I still think it's important to be out there advocating for atheism though, even if the response is overly negative from most others. You're certainly on to something suggesting that religious disposition is programmed by evolution, but stupidity probably isn't. I think most people, if offered a choice between rational atheists or lunatic doomsday cultist evangelicals, would have to eventually decide they hold views that are far closer to atheists than such christians. The real question is, will they ever actually have to choose?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14871665345303590565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-60603268561893446592011-01-12T07:22:41.043-08:002011-01-12T07:22:41.043-08:00Thanks Giant Squid. Right, I didn't mean to e...Thanks Giant Squid. Right, I didn't mean to exclude the explanation that a lot of people are critical of atheism because of the enormous social pressure to do so. Evolutionary disposition, if it's real, would just make it that much easier to fall into line. <br /><br />BTW, Peter Watts' books are required reading for atheist science fiction fans. This week I've been loving some short stories. Check <a href="http://rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_Heathens.pdf" rel="nofollow">"A Word for Heathens"</a> for a take on the neurological causes of religious experience and their affects on society. <br /><br />And <a href="http://rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_TheIsland.pdf" rel="nofollow">The Island"</a> is just brilliant. Watts is one of the very best sci fi writers working today.Matt McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-8627695260278258522011-01-12T05:31:38.922-08:002011-01-12T05:31:38.922-08:00Another possibility is that folks are simply afrai...Another possibility is that folks are simply afraid of having their windshields smashed, their noses broken, or their contracts terminated if they remark too audibly on the emperor's nudity. I'd proclaim my own faith to the heavens if I'd been alive back in the days of the <i>last</i> Holy Inquisition, but not because I had a hardwired sympathy for religious beliefs. Hell, I'd proclaim an undyling love for the works of Celine Dionne if it kept me off the rack (which, come to think of it, has more than a passing connection with the impact of Dionne's work...)Peter Wattshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06160557746794936786noreply@blogger.com