Untitled Document

The Unified Theory of the Nervous System
and Behavior

Cognitive Philosophy /Brain Theory by Steven Michael Harris

An explanation of why people think, I mean feel, that God exists

All thought is a calculation related to sensory input and memory and the topic of thought. All experience and thought is an accumulation of much smaller units of experience and calculation as I have explained in other essays concerning my theory. The pieces of a moment of consciousness may be used as a part of many other moments of consciousness. Two very different thoughts might seem extremely different being about different subject matter, but many of the components of the two different thoughts might be held in common.

Memory is a component of all thought. Any new memory, thought, or experience will take use the components of earlier thoughts that are held in common as a basis for the new concept. Mistaken thoughts don't go away. They remain in the mind but adjustments take place that keep the mistaken idea and replace it using as much of the similar components as possible. Any concept, idea, memory etc. that is held for a long time and experienced many times is rehearsed much more firmly into the mind. Long-held convictions don't go away very easily. Some of these thoughts go so far back that they existed before language developed and no interior monologue is a part of such a thought, so that thought exists more as a feeling rather than a word-based statement.

When we are babies, we are convinced of the existence of a higher power. It is our mother, our parents, adults of all kinds. We believe that a higher power can read our minds and know our desires because when we are hungry we are fed and when we need changing we are changed. Our mommy is a higher power who knows everything about the world and teaches us everything even before we understand the concept of our relationship to a parent or understand parenthood. Our higher power is always there, a constant presence. Many new discoveries that occur in the presence of this higher power appear to be miracles to us. Magic is in the world because everything is unexplainable. Language does not need to a part of our thinking for these concepts to exist in our explanation of the world. And these concepts about the world can exist for some time consciously after language develops as well.

Eventually we realize that our parents are not omnipotent. We eventually realize that the one all-knowing mommy/God is really one of many as other children have mothers as well. The mistaken notion of an all-knowing, constant presence who provides all and creates miracles is always in our mind as all memories are always in our mind. But new thoughts write over the parts of this concept that need to be changed and reuse the parts that can be assimilated into the new thoughts. The mistaken notion is one that was held for a long time in early development and provides a basis for future growth and development of thought. We grow up to realize that our parents are not omnipotent - not with the characteristics of a God - but the feeling that an omnipotent and constant presence exists in the world remains as a part of our thinking. The feeling that a God exists is a permanent memory from early mistaken notions about the world. We feel that such a being exists from an earlier concept about our parents, and, when realizing that our parents don't fit that bill, we then accept what we are told about the concept of God which matches that feeling.

This sort of thinking is also firmed in our minds by the cultural insistence of teaching children false beliefs such as about Santa Claus because we think it is cute and think it is necessary for a good childhood. But healthy children have an energy and playful enthusiasm for truths that they are taught as well. They are not healthier as children being told that a strange magical person brings them presents every year than they would be if they were told that the wonderful presents really came from their loving parents. Teaching children these falsehoods are really dishonest ways of indoctrinating them into adult membership in various religions. Teaching them that magical persons exist gives them a permanent feeling that magic exists so that they will eventually seek a source of magic in a belief in God.

Sometimes it takes a lot of digging into old beliefs to clear up our understanding of the world. Feeling (emotion) is a part of all thought, but logical thinking and feeling are different things. The feeling incorporates all of our thoughts, old and new, good and bad, focused and unfocused, and so feelings can be mistaken. Feelings bring in factors that have nothing to do with the topic at hand in a thought process. Feelings can bring in many factors at once and can sometimes push us in the right direction, but feelings can also assimilate mistaken notions or old notions or off-topic issues and therefore push one in the wrong direction. Feelings can be mistaken for other neurological reasons as well. The emotional centers of the brain are the switchboards, the intersections of many connections. More stress collects in the parts of the brain with the most connections to diverse subject matter. Eventually stress collects until cellular events change decisions with too much inhibition and then Yes decisions turn into No decisions. Flips in logic occur with too much stress. Mistaken notions occur in emotional thought. This occurs in social thought more often as well, because social awareness brings together many diverse factors as well (information from body language, early lessons, emotional reactions to us from those who taught us, conflicts between body and society involving the nudity, bodily functions, sex, etc. that are not taught to other animals), so social mistakes occur more often in a stressed nervous system as well.

We are constantly reminded that religion is moral. I disagree. I think morality comes from the Truth, whatever the Truth might be. If the truth about the world is not coming from religion, then religion is immoral. I don't believe the truth about the world ever comes from religion. Belief in concepts that conflict with the reality of the world as we see it every day only serves to corrupt our judgment of how to deal with the real world.

I have been afraid of writing about this topic for some time because it invites some heavy conflict, but I will no longer be in shame of the truth. The truth is right and religion gets very much in the way of understanding the nature of the brain and mind. Conflicts concerning the same subject matter make thinking difficult. You can't think of a circle also being a square. You can't think the car is red and think it is blue at the same time and still be talking about the same car. You can't expect up to be down and not be confused. You can't understand how the brain creates the mind without throwing away all religious belief because this is the realm of religions. You can't know how the brain works and still believe that your mind is something outside of your body and something that will live when the body dies. You can't understand how thought works and still believe that some of the thoughts are given to you by an omnipotent being outside of that body. You can't know how the brain works and at the same time believe the conflicting idea that a higher power exists that is not a part of that same brain that is able to figure the answers to problems without the use of language (what is called subconscious mind or higher power or God or inspiration defined as something coming from without when it is really coming from you - your inspirations are limited to the realm of your own experience with the world and not other's experiences as is so often believed). You can't understand how the brain works and at the same time think that thoughts and memories can have a source other than the intricate reactions of nerve impulses to memory and sensory input such as a memory that comes from"past life" idiocy.

There is only one form of religion worse than agnosticism according to my principles, and that is Unitarianism. There is no God. Religion is a creative invention of man. To have doubt is to lack respect for your own reason and allow the bad logic of previous generations to compromise your reason. But the idea of Unitarians - that all beliefs deserve support - is reprehensible. What you believe matters. If you live your life according to delusions, you can die. If you live your life based on lies, you will make bad decisions for yourself. If you know that X is X and another person says that X is Y and you don't fight for the truth that you can easily see (no matter what the ignorance of that other person) you are doing something worse than just being polite (although avoiding the issue might save you a lot of annoyance from being stuck in a fruitless argument)É you are denying the world. (I must cite Ayn Rand for portions of this paragraph.)

(This topic goes far beyond just the topic of the brain/mind. These days there is a lot of "God Bless America" ranting. I believe that turning to religion in response to the Trade Center attacks is lunacy: you would never have people willing to commit themselves and others to death in such a way without the delusion that death is a better life than life. To think that religion is the answer in response to a tragedy caused by religion is bad logic. The increased referencing to religion, especially by politicians, during this time might be considered as a way to comfort the bereaved, but it appears more to be an opportunistic movement to elbow out the freedom to think and speak otherwise.)

In a world where so many have a bad grasp of the truth, it can be lonely to demand logic as your currency.

To really communicate an understanding of how the mind works, you must teach people to discard religion. This is the only moral act because an understanding of how the brain and mind works can lead to discoveries that will bring real peace and health and happiness to the world. When you know enough of it, the truth is very beautiful as well. Some religious leaders came close to the truth with some of their teachings, but close is not good enough. Love does heal. Love is a factor in placebo effect. In a nervous system where all thought and sensation - all qualia - is produced by a mathematical relationship between connected cells using pleasure and pain: Love is half of the language of the nervous system.

I might lose ground in promoting these ideas if I piss off those with religious beliefs and I am concerned about that, but I'll gain respect from the people who choose to think about the truth of the world rather than feel the truth if I'm brave about saying what I'm sure is the truth and is also a truth that is an important factor in understanding the brain/mind issues. I'd rather get the respect of one atheist who has the ability to understand these ideas for the right reasons even if it means losing a thousand people to these ideas if they are the kind of people who think they can delude themselves into the mistake that they can hold onto religious beliefs that conflict with the real nature of world and still understand the real nature of the world. You can't believe both concepts that are so much in conflict. (There is a reason that "delusions of religiosity" are a known symptom of mental illness but "delusions of atheism" or "delusions of a logical nature" are not symptoms of mental illness.)

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