Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Evolution keeps us superstitious. Now that's lucky (The Times UK)
Humans have evolved over tens of thousands of years to be susceptible to supernatural beliefs, a psychologist has claimed.
Religion and other forms of magical thinking continue to thrive - despite the lack of evidence and advance of science - because people are naturally biased to accept a role for the irrational, said Bruce Hood (homepage), Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol.
This evolved credulity suggests that it would be impossible to root out belief in ideas such as creationism and paranormal phenomena, even though they have been countered by evidence and are held as a matter of faith alone...
...Even the most rational people behave in irrational ways and supernatural beliefs are part of the same continuum, Professor Hood told the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich yesterday. [News, Norfolk, The Times UK, Superstitious]
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The BA Festival of Science runs from 2-9 September 2006 (more info)
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