An expirement

[Saw11_2000]

You know what I've always thought would be an interesting experiment?

Take a few babies at birth, and put them into confinement, keep them alive, but don't let them interact with other people, I would be willing to hypothesize that most of these babies would be atheist, more so than the general population of the world.

Now, take a few hundred or thousand babies, and let them all live together. I would bet they would devlop language, gestures, etc. and one or some would develop a concept of religion, and since they did, they would try to pass it on to other people, who would accept it because it was a "good idea" that satisfied their questions/whatever. I would also hypothesize that most babies would be theists, maybe higher than the general population of the world. I think religion would be invented by some of them, and just passed around like the flu because people think it's a good idea.

I hope that makes sense, please tell me if it seems flawed.

 

[GHSSOCCER07]

Mathematical the odds are greater than 1,000,000 to 1 for gods existence.

 

[GHSSOCCER07]

You have the reasons for why youre an atheist, but what are the reasons you try to take people away from their faith?

 

[Saw11_2000]

Curious if you're saying odds are one million to one in favor of God's existance or against it?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Mathematical the odds are greater than 1,000,000 to 1 for gods existence.

Why do people say such silly things ... ?

 

[Saw11_2000]

Duet, do you know if he means against or for, maybe I'm just reading it wrong.

 

[michel]

You know what I've always thought would be an interesting experiment?

Take a few babies at birth, and put them into confinement, keep them alive, but don't let them interact with other people, I would be willing to hypothesize that most of these babies would be atheist, more so than the general population of the world.

Now, take a few hundred or thousand babies, and let them all live together. I would bet they would devlop language, gestures, etc. and one or some would develop a concept of religion, and since they did, they would try to pass it on to other people, who would accept it because it was a "good idea" that satisfied their questions/whatever. I would also hypothesize that most babies would be theists, maybe higher than the general population of the world. I think religion would be invented by some of them, and just passed around like the flu because people think it's a good idea.

I hope that makes sense, please tell me if it seems flawed.

Don't you think that one day, when there is thunder and lightening, the 'few babies' would say that the sky is angry with them - just as the 1000 would? Don't you think that when one of the kids (in either camp) becomes ill, that the others would shun him - especially if he had spots, or sores?

 

[Jaymes]

Maybe we're both messed up, but I've pondered this before as well. I don't know what would happen... I can't relate my experiences as a child, since I never truly felt a god was there. Some kids seem to, though.

 

[iaminterface]

i actually thought about an experiment of the same type. I think it would tell us a lot about ourselves if we did something like this. What im wondering though is if you had someone over it, who gave supplied them food. Would they start calling this man God?

It's strange to think of what these humans that are seperated from the rest of the world would worship. No doubt new religions would arise. Maybe we are seperated from the truth, and thats why we have so many different religions. . . eh, weird.

 

[LeaderNotFollower]

Mathematical the odds are greater than 1,000,000 to 1 for gods existence.

GHSSOCCER07,

Could you maybe give us some details to how you came to this conclusion. Not only would I say that the opposite is true, but I would guess that they odds are even greater than 1,000,000 to 1 that a god doesn't exist.

And as per your other comment about taking faith away from people, we are just proselytizing. Just trying to free people from their spiritual prison.

 

[Dayv]

GHSSOCCER07...where did you come up with that data? Is that even something that can be calculated? and at what point was Saw11_2000 trying to take anyone away from their faith? Don't just say things to be saying things, have either some proof or a point.

 

[Yerda]

I read the title and thought someone had died.

Saw, what would you hope to achieve from this 'expirement'?

 

[jimbob]

seems kinda cruel to the babies.

 

[Krunk]

the only way the babys whould think of religion was if the started a chain of command. then the leader relizes that he is losing control of some of the kids. so he creates the ultimate controler fear so he uses things that cant be proven like what what happens after we died to scare them to do what he pleases

 

[michel]

the only way the babys whould think of religion was if the started a chain of command. then the leader relizes that he is losing control of some of the kids. so he creates the ultimate controler fear so he uses things that cant be proven like what what happens after we died to scare them to do what he pleases

But Krunk, say you were one of the kids; the leader looses control of you. He tells you that when you die you will go to hell, you would still be 'Krunk' and wouldn't believe him, would you ? you would still be there saying "Prove it to me" - wouldn' t you?

 

[Krunk]

as a matter of fact i have been since i was able to speak

 

[michel]

as a matter of fact i have been since i was able to speak

Exactly, you have been saying there is no God, but in your example of the babies, you implied that they believed the leader when he told them what would happen to them as a result of disobeying him.

 

[Saw11_2000]

seems kinda cruel to the babies.

My evil scientist self has no emotions. I am heartless.

What I would hope to learn is, that if all outside influence was shut out, that people would tend to be more atheist, as opposed to when people have an outside influence, and accept it (which most people in this world are theistic).

 

[Lloyd]

The babies would all end up feral, if they even survived. They would have no language, because languages don't just spring up out of the ground they take thousands of years of development, probably longer. We've never seen a language develop from the ground up. All modern man has ever seen is languages transform into other languages.

Without languages the kids would have no way of differentiating between each other in any meaningful sort of way. Leadership might develop if one kid finds out that he can sufficiently bludgeon the other ones into giving him more food, but that might only happen if there is a shortage of food.

The kids of course would not believe in God. This is because there is no linguistic/conceptual framework to even conceive of the idea. But then, of course there is no framework for conceiving of much else for that matter, personal identity for example. Really they'd just end up like a bunch of hairless chimpanzees.

 

[GHSSOCCER07]

Um, I don't know how my reply got put in this thread...I didn't intend for it to be in here...I probably wasn't paying attention. Sorry about that.