Religion
In reply to the discussion: Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke [View all]DetlefK
(16,436 posts)The author says, atheists believe in karma.
He could have said that people are neurologically disposed to look for cause-and-result relationships.
He could have said that people are neurologically disposed to look for statistical balance (e.g. in weather-phenomena, in day-night-cycles, in seasons).
"If I commit a sin, it is not an isolated event but will have appropriate repercussions."
That is not immaterial. That is one of the rules for the survival of a herd. No wonder evolution hammered that into our brains.
"An unnamed, unidentified mechanism ensures that this is so, and is a fundamental element of storiesperhaps the fundamental element of narratives."
You know what else is a fundamental element of stories? "The hero's journey". Leave the security of your herd, be brave, wander around, get something precious, return, share it with the group.
All the examples the author gives can also be explained by hardwiring rules of survival and society into a brain. A balance of sin and punishment? How about if a group of monkeys ate one of their babies as punishment for misbehaving? No need for an immaterial concept to enforce that balance is considered normal.
The author could have written the whole article without mentioning God or atheism and it would have represented exactly the same knowledge to the reader. He chose not to. Combine that with his religious and conservative agenda, as evidenced in his choice of words.
This article is about nonmaterial concepts, not about religion, not about God and atheism. He mingles them in to further his agenda.