Why do some believe in god?
Researchers at the University of Oxford have started an investigation into why some people believe in a god. The purpose of the $4 million dollar (AUD) study is it to try and find out whether belief in a deity is a matter of nature or nurture.
Justin Barrett, a psychologist, said: “We are interested in exploring exactly in what sense belief in God is natural. We think there is more on the nature side than a lot of people suppose.”
He compared believers to three-year-olds who “assume that other people know almost everything there is to be known”.
Dr Barrett, who is a Christian, is the editor of the Journal of Cognition and Culture and author of the book Why Would Anyone Believe in God? He said that the childish tendency to believe in the omniscience of others was pared down by experience as people grew up. But this tendency, necessary to allow human beings to socialise and cooperate with each other in a productive way, continued when it came to belief in God.
