[Robert]

A while back I read the book, "The 'God' Part of the Brain" by Matthew Alper and, with one exception, I thought it was a very good book. I think there exists a part of the brain that is responsible for our feeling that there is a godly presence about us. The evidence is pretty convincing in this regard. Stimulate a specific part of your brain and you want to pray, go to church, you have overwhelming faith, and feel the presence of God. Destroy a specific part of your brain and you loose your faith, feel no godly presence, and stop going to church. I believe this to be true. However, I don't think this necessarily means that there is not a godly presence about us.

So, assuming the previous paragraph to be true, why would this God part of our brain evolve? How does it increase our survivability? The explanation the book gave was just very bad and wrong in my opinion. The book states that without our faith in God and belief in eternal life, the stress of facing death and non-existence would just be to great and cause us to die. This seems ridiculous since, because our death is so far away, we don't really worry about it that much, especially the younger people. Similarly, some people smoke even though they know it could be killing them. The consequence are just to far off to worry about.

So, why did the God part of our brain evolve? Perhaps it increases survivability by giving us extra strength. To believe in something greater than ourselves gives a clarity of focus, extra strength, determination, and perseverance to accomplish our goals. However, I don't think this necessarily means that there is a godly presence about us.