Morality and Religion

"We are caught in the perennial tension between the drive to good, and instinct to self-preservation that sees everyone as a means to our ends."

There is no part of the brain that, when damaged, takes away the Cartesian soul. Instead damage to different structures takes away different chunks of the mind.

There really is such a thing as spirit, but it is not as people have imagined it in the past. Spirit is information of a special kind. It is quirky and individual to each of us, and is precious because it is not eternal.

We are beings that do not see the world literally or dispassionately. We see the world filtered through our most developed talent, our social intelligence, and spirituality is a direct consequence.

Our brains actively paint consciousness onto ourselves and onto the objects around us -- and the implications for spiritual belief are rather startling.

Eradicating religion is not possible. It is a fallacy that ignores the specs of the human machine. We are not rational entities. Religion grows on the social machinery in our brains.

One can argue for all of modern science and yet agree that there are certain questions that science leaves unanswered. Although one need not turn to religion, it is legitimate for the believer to offer answers.