Why we are desperate to believe in purpose - Humans may be primed to believe in creation
Blogger's Note: Today I heard a snippet of a radio sermon. "If there is no God, then life is without meaning and the existentialists are right," said the preacher. But doesn't that logic (or lack of) just indulging in wishful thinking? The question shouldn't be which way would make life seem more bearable, but if something represents reality or not. Hence this article...
NewScientist - March 2, 2009, by Ewen Callaway
Religion might not be the only reason people buy into creationism and intelligent design, psychological experiments suggest.
No matter what their religious beliefs, college-educated adults frequently agree with purpose-seeking yet false explanations of natural phenomena - finches diversified in order to survive, for instance.
"The very fact of belief in purpose itself might lead you to favour intelligent design," says Deborah Kelemen, a psychologist at Boston University, who led the study
Kelemen has documented the same kind of erroneous thinking - called promiscuous teleology - in young children. Seven and eight-year olds agree with teleological statements such as "Rocks are jagged so animals can scratch themselves" and "Birds exist to make nice music". These mistakes diminish as kids take more science classes and learn causal explanations for natural events.
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