What's Inside the Human Mind that Sees Invisible Beings
Plenty of people who have read this decade-long blog will conclude I do not see "reality." What they see as reality are imaginary gods. What I write about here often is about other people who "see" things that are not reality. When did the practice of seeing things that are not reality start?
There are theories that people who did not see reality survived better than those who saw it more clearly. We know humans evolved, apparently independently, in different forms and in different places around the globe. Artifacts have been found suggesting some branches of humans just died out, disappeared. There are anthropologists who conclude imaginary gods helped some groups survive.
Years ago, I watched a documentary in which anthropologists traveled on foot with a group of native people whose source of food had gone away. The group was walking through brush and jungle looking for something they could eat. They were not finding enough and were running out of energy. The leaders concluded the reason they were not coming across food was because they had angered their god (or spirit). The group nodded in agreement and concluded the next day they would be more careful to follow the desires of their god and he may reward them soon.
Some anthropologists have concluded this belief in the presence of the imaginary god gave the group motivation to keep going. Further, this led to a possible conclusion that groups with "faith" may most often survive and that's why we have so much of it today. It seems to me, however, we must work into this theory the huge losses of life caused by religious wars, mass suicides, etc.
Parts of today's Christianity tracks with religious beliefs of ancient times including forest dwellers and worshippers of Greek gods. The Greek god stories were full of stories about intrigue, betrayal and mischief. Today's Christianity is similar. The "Holy Spirit" has replaced the Greek gods but the stories remain similar.
Why are these "gods" so present in some heads and not in others? I think it is because in some people the need is there. Others have no need so see no god.
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