Continuing on with this discussion of the concept of certainty, religion is the result of humankind's need to feel certain in an uncertain world. Life can be brutish, at times, and the human psyche desires some stasis to stem the flow of the uncertainty and constant change that envelops us.
As someone with AS, I can understand the NEED for certainty and constancy better than most! My life is structured into regular routines that I rarely deviate from. I don't like changes in my routines and I like surprises even less. Yet, for my neurological need for sameness, I rationally realize that, no matter how regimented I try to make my life, I simply can't modify enough variables to be certain of anything. More importantly, I am fully cognizant that, just because I desire certainty and constancy, this doesn't mean they actually exist.
In a way, I can understand many of the challenges faced by early humankind. Back before cell phones and modern medicine, primitive man was never sure where the next meal would come from OR if there would be a next meal. Members of the tribe who seemed fine one day, might inexplicably die tomorrow. Weather was a complete mystery and often played a key role in life and death.
Out of this random existence, humankind needed some reassurances that a) somebody was looking out for them and b) some reward lay at the end of the road. So, religion was invented to provide a "sense" of certainty about life, death and many of the in betweens. While this creation couldn't genuinely provide any more certainty than before, people still wrapped themselves in it nonetheless because cosmetic certainty was far better than no certainty at all!
Religion has continued to grow throughout the generations because, try as we might, we can't seem to engender any more certainty about the mysteries of life than our ancestors. While there is no question that humankind has progressed in all sorts of fields and knowledge, in this one specific area, we really haven't progressed at all.
Today's world creates just as much tension and stress as the primitive world. Arbitrary things happen all the time. People still die for unknown reasons or don't die for unknown reasons. Many throughout the world still wonder where their next meal will come from OR if there will be a next meal. And we're still at the mercy of Mother Nature!
Faced with all these stresses and so much uncertainty, people tend to cling to vestiges of comfort and reassurance -- religion. They cling to religion so tightly that they make themselves believe beyond any certainty of doubt that it is real and unchanging. To admit that it is nothing more than a calculated facade is next too impossible for the vast majority of believers because, if they did admit it, then it would mean that they are no better off than primitive man, in this regard.
Modern vanity will simply not entertain this possibility!
As someone with AS, I can understand the NEED for certainty and constancy better than most! My life is structured into regular routines that I rarely deviate from. I don't like changes in my routines and I like surprises even less. Yet, for my neurological need for sameness, I rationally realize that, no matter how regimented I try to make my life, I simply can't modify enough variables to be certain of anything. More importantly, I am fully cognizant that, just because I desire certainty and constancy, this doesn't mean they actually exist.
In a way, I can understand many of the challenges faced by early humankind. Back before cell phones and modern medicine, primitive man was never sure where the next meal would come from OR if there would be a next meal. Members of the tribe who seemed fine one day, might inexplicably die tomorrow. Weather was a complete mystery and often played a key role in life and death.
Out of this random existence, humankind needed some reassurances that a) somebody was looking out for them and b) some reward lay at the end of the road. So, religion was invented to provide a "sense" of certainty about life, death and many of the in betweens. While this creation couldn't genuinely provide any more certainty than before, people still wrapped themselves in it nonetheless because cosmetic certainty was far better than no certainty at all!
Religion has continued to grow throughout the generations because, try as we might, we can't seem to engender any more certainty about the mysteries of life than our ancestors. While there is no question that humankind has progressed in all sorts of fields and knowledge, in this one specific area, we really haven't progressed at all.
Today's world creates just as much tension and stress as the primitive world. Arbitrary things happen all the time. People still die for unknown reasons or don't die for unknown reasons. Many throughout the world still wonder where their next meal will come from OR if there will be a next meal. And we're still at the mercy of Mother Nature!
Faced with all these stresses and so much uncertainty, people tend to cling to vestiges of comfort and reassurance -- religion. They cling to religion so tightly that they make themselves believe beyond any certainty of doubt that it is real and unchanging. To admit that it is nothing more than a calculated facade is next too impossible for the vast majority of believers because, if they did admit it, then it would mean that they are no better off than primitive man, in this regard.
Modern vanity will simply not entertain this possibility!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.