By Donald
B. Ardell – October 04, 2009
I have come to the conclusion that all deeply religious
people, particularly fundamentalist types who really believe in a 6,000 year
old universe, biblical literacy, the Second Coming, creationism, the efficacy
of prayer and similar nonsense are simply mental.
I'm a bit mental myself, though I don’t believe any of the
just mentioned myths. I’m mental
in a different fashion. The fact is, we’ll all mental – in ways
better understood now than ever before. Even top brain researchers would not have dared forecast the degree of
understanding scientists now have of brain dynamics, an understanding that goes
far in explaining why fundamentalists believe the kind of over-the-top things
they embrace about one faith teaching or another. Research shows that all humans are mental, that is, have
quirks and anomalies revealed by neuroimaging that predispose some of us
to embrace weird (i.e., religious) notions, thus accounting for acceptance of
claims both maniacal as well as only a little crazy. This seems to have been the case for humans as far
back in time as the age of Ardi, the 4.4 million year–old skeleton of a
human ancestor. Ardi, known as
Ardipithecus ramidus, was unearthed about 15 years ago. He has been painstakingly studied ever
since and conclusions based on all these attentions are only now being released
to the larger public .
Ardi is quite a find. He was born 1.2 million years
before Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), who was, until Ardi turned up,
the most famous of our distant ancestors. Scientists have bone fragments from Ardi’s skull and teeth, pelvis,
limbs, hands and feet. As fossils
go, it does not get any better than that. (We probably should not expect as many of our own parts to
make it into the world, if there is one, five and a half million years from
now.)
No information is available as to what religion Ardi
belonged to, but I'm going to guess he was not a Christian or other
fundamentalist type. I can’t imagine he would have held to the idea of a
6,000 year-old universe.
So, can modern breakthrough brain science explain why some
humans turn out to be fundies? Can it shed light on how anyone can
believe the absolute, unadulterated doo doo fundamentalist loonies
embrace? It seems impossible that smart people could believe what they
do. And these are intelligent people, in fact, I'm guessing more than 80,
maybe 95 percent of them are smarter than me in many ways, such as math,
chemistry, auto mechanics, carpentry, sports trivia and definitely biblical
knowledge. Yet, they embrace rank superstition akin to witchcraft,
sorcery and magical thinking. To
me, I have to say what Yul Brunner famously said (in the musical “The King And
I”), namely, “Is a wonderment.”
Well, dear reader, I think I know why they are mental in
their own fashion – a manner so at odds with my own form of being
mental. They and I have different kinds of brains.
I came to this conclusion, which may not be accurate –
I offer no guarantees on these opinions, from reading and pondering numerous
accounts about Ardi, particularly the feature story in Time Magazine by Michael
D. Lemonick and Andrea Dorfman entitled, "Excavating Ardi: A New Piece for
the Puzzle of Human Evolution," Time, October 1, 2009.
It’s a wonderment. Ardi, the last common ancestor shared by humans and chimps, is featured
in a special issue of Science. She
(yes, Ardi was a woman) was more human-like than she was chimpanzee-like. One amazing finding based on studies of
Ardi remains is that chimps evolved more than humans. Considering the fundamentalists today that may not be such a
shock to some. By more evolved,
the scientists mean that chimps actually changed more over the past 7 million
years or so than we did. It’s not
a value judgment, so don’t get your knickers in a twist over this
statement.
Religious belief, it seems, is not so much a choice as a
fact of destiny. I’m big on
personal responsibility, but some things are beyond our will, best efforts,
conscious choices and so on, and I’m not just referring to our gender, height,
race or how much hair grows on our heads after half a century or so. Brain wiring it seems, is what probably
leads people to embrace fundamentalism, or not.
All things considered, I find the brain chemistry notion a
better explanation for the religious form of being mental than any other, and
until new evidence comes along, I’ll stay with this idea as the likeliest
explanation for the existence of fundamentalists.
However, I may be mistaken about the intelligent fundy
part. Note what my good friend,
the polymath Sandy Scott had to say about the brains of fundamentalists:
I believe it to be a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and
just good old fashioned brainwashing. Then there is the lemming
phenomenon. We are brainwashed and/or held (in effect) captive by our
parents, community, societal norms. Some people are more vulnerable, but
I believe the phenomenon that causes these ridiculous notions to be embraced is
inversely proportional to intelligence. In my experience, I have known
very few "highly" intelligent people to be believers. I think
one tends to find a higher percentage of atheists at Mensa meetings. I
don't think anyone I have ever met who was a member of the 999 society (an IQ
demonstrated through testing to be in the 99.9 percentile or higher). I
have even known a couple in the Omega 4 society (IQ of at least 99.997
percentile) - they were both atheists. You too quickly assume that these
misguided folk have the same brain power as you simply because they can rebuild
a carburetor and you cannot. I not quite ready to concede that point, but
again I await more information.
The very guy who is on a suicide mission in support of Islam
would be marching with a sign at the gay pride parade had he been born into
"our" society. The most avid Buddhist monk probably would be a
fundy if he were born in the bible belt. Yes, maybe those who embrace
strongly held mythical beliefs share the same brain function, which I consider
a “dysfunction.” As of late, I find myself becoming less and less
tolerant towards all mythical believers, but I do hold a special dose of wrath
for fundies.
Whatever the case may be as to why fundies believe what they
say they believe, always remember - look on the bright side of life. 
Don Ardell is the Well Infidel. He favors evidence over faith, reason over revelation and
meaning and purpose over spirituality. His enthusiasm for reason, exuberance and liberty are reflected in his
books (14), newsletter (503 editions of a weekly report) and lectures across
North America and a dozen other countries.