Belief in God Boils Down to Intuition

I have recently posted several articles here asserting that theism is a product of adopting an intuitive way of understanding our world and that human intuition is a very poor substitute to an overall weight of the available evidence method of understanding our world which favors atheism over theism. I further argue that the well-established, true facts about how our world functions are mostly non-intuitive, and even counter-intuitive, and that an empirical, overall weight of the available evidence method is the only method that we have any reason to think works for reliably finding accurate answers to questions about how our world functions.

An article by Stephanie Pappas published in LiveScience.com titled Belief in God Boils Down to a Gut Feeling reports on the results of a new study by researcher Amitai Shenhav of Harvard University and his colleagues, published Sept. 19 online in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (also, another copy can be found here), about a difference in how non-theists and theists justify their beliefs. The study attempts to determine whether beliefs are influenced by how much an individual relies on their natural intuitions versus making the additional effort required to better understand the problem and find the correct, non-intuitive answer. People who incorrectly went with their intuition on a math test were found to be one-and-a-half times more likely to believe in God than those who got all the answers right. The results held even when taking factors such as education and income into account.

The researchers then initiated a second study to see if they could encourage people to be more theistic by encouraging them to adopt an intuitive focus. 373 participants were told to write a paragraph about either successfully using their intuition or successfully reasoning their way to an answer. Those who wrote about the intuitive experience were more likely to say they were convinced of God's existence after the experiment, suggesting that triggering intuitive thinking boosts belief.

However, contrary to what I argue, the researcher David Rand of Harvard claimed "It's not that one way is better than the other, intuitions are important and reflection is important, and you want some balance of the two. Where you are on that spectrum affects how you come out in terms of belief in God."

Of course, intuition has a proper role. Intuition is arguably the best method when evidence is unavailable, contradictory, or otherwise does not provide direction to answering a question that needs to be answered. But relying primarily on intuition to answer mathematics questions isn't balanced. That so many people turn to intuition in inappropriate contexts such as a mathematics quiz is a symptom of a counter-productive overtendency to rely far too much on intuition and far too little on going beyond intuition to reflect on the nature of the problem and how the available evidence favors some answers over others. David Rand is being too non-judgemental in his characterization of the spectrum. One way is better than the other in these contexts. Reflection takes first place, intuitition should only be our second method and only in those contexts where reflection is not viable due to lack of time or evidence constraints.

Earthy, Scientific and Transparent Spring in DC

There's always things going on in the DC area and Spring is a great time for them. Natural beauty is here with the Cherry Blossoms and quickly prepares the way for Earth Day on the mall April 16 - 17. See http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/EarthDayMall.htm.
(I hope the new budget allows the Environmental Protection Agency to host this annual event with its National Sustainable Design Expo that features a wide array of college students showcasing Earth friendly ideas.)

Even before this there's a great science talk:

"To Be and Not to Be a Monkey: The Myth of the 1.23% Difference" with Alain Prochiantz, CNRS Researcher in Neurobiology and Professor at the Collège de France presented Tuesday, April 05, 2011 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at the Embassy of France. It's free and followed by a wine reception.

You can register at www.rdv-cnrs.eventbrite.com

A HAPPY B-DAY to PAUL ROBESON! April 9th.

And April is a great time for the Robert G. Ingersoll Washington, D.C., Walking Tour (see http://www.ingersoll.wash.org/content/tour/index.php)

There are 2 great, secular speakers talking in the area in April. Philosopher A. C. Grayling is discussing his new work "The Good Book: A Secular Bible" at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 14th 2011 at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St NW in DC (walkable from the 14th & V / U Street Cardozo Metro). Grayling has apparently been working on this opus for several decades, and the result has been described as a rich manifesto for rational thought.

Later that week Freethinker Susan Jacoby takes on anti-aging hype in her new book "Never Say Die" at at 4:00 pm on Sunday, April 17th at the downtown Busboys and Poets 5th & K, 1025 5th St NW. It;s been described as an "impassioned, closely reasoned critique of the myth that a radically new old age - unmarred by physical and mental infirmity, financial problems, or loneliness - waits the baby-boom generation. "
You can these and more at http://www.busboysandpoets.com/events.php and http://www.busboysandpoets.com/events.php?loc=2

At the end of the month there's a really neat 2 day workshop called Transparency Camp run by the Sunlight Foundation. This is held in the form of an unconference , which means it is highly informal and a happening - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference.
This year T-Camp is being held in Bethesda and it is a really neat meeting for people interested in transparent and open government. The Open Gov movement is still a work in progress, but progress is made each year as Sunlight helps us make information more accessible and transparently understandable. If you haven't seen Sunlight fact check political speeches you've missed an experience.

For more event details, visit the event page at http://tcamp11.eventbrite.com.
The weekend is basically free with just a $10 charge for 2 lunches.

Maybe I'll see you there. From there it is only a few days to the National Day of Reason, It's the 1st Thursday in May every year, to provide an alternative to the National Day of Prayer. See http://daysuntil.com/Day-Of-Reason/index.html