The Physiology of Faith by N. Fakhr - HTML preview

Preparedness to Believe in the Existence of Supernatural Beings

So far, it appears that the capacity for having a Theory of Mind, at the level found in Homo sapiens, has had numerous consequences. Among other things, it has enabled our species to communicate more effectively with its own members, develop a broader vocabulary, and create a more efficient language for communication.

Our language continued to develop with the growth and evolution of brain regions involved in speech production, speech comprehension, and the interpretation of eye, facial, and bodily expressions. It was also enhanced by a more efficient vocal apparatus capable of producing a greater variety of sounds. As a result, language became an extraordinary and effective tool for transmitting knowledge, experiences, emotions, and beliefs to other members of the group.

The human species now possessed an extraordinary instrument through which it could transmit not only simple experiences and observations—such as the location of a water source or a hunting ground—to other members of the group, but also pass down stories told from one generation to the next, or share creative ideas and even images and events experienced in dreams.

Humans could communicate their imaginations and even their illusions to others. One person could tell another that they were certain that an invisible or supernatural being was interfering with the surrounding natural world and altering the events around them.

However, communicating such beliefs is one matter; having these beliefs accepted by other members of the species is another. Why do humans accept one another’s claims about the existence of supernatural beings?

Research has been conducted to answer this question, and it suggests that once again, the important human characteristic of possessing a Theory of Mind plays a role.

Jesse Bering, a psychologist from the University of Otago in New Zealand, designed an experiment involving six- and seven-year-old children. He asked the children to participate in a game in which they threw sticky balls at a target on a wall, in order to determine what scores they could achieve.

He established three strict rules:

First, the children were not allowed under any circumstances to cross a line that he had drawn several meters away from the target in order to get closer to it.

Second, right-handed children had to throw with their left hand, and left-handed children had to throw with their right hand.

The third rule was that, while throwing, they had to stand with their backs toward the target and hit it by throwing the sticky ball over their shoulders.

In fact, he wanted them to try to earn points through a method that was extremely difficult and almost impossible. Afterward, each child was left alone in the room, and their behavior was monitored by cameras.

All of the children cheated to some extent. They crossed the line, used their dominant hand, turned toward the target and threw the ball directly, or even walked forward and simply placed the ball onto the center of the target.

A second group of six- and seven-year-old children was given all the same rules. However, one additional piece of information was provided to this group: they were told that an invisible person named Princess Alice was sitting on the chair beside the room and watching them.

Some children questioned the existence of Princess Alice and even ran their hands over the chair to make sure that no one was there, stating that they did not believe in her presence.

However, when the children were left alone in the room to perform the task, they rarely cheated—even those children who had said that they did not believe in the presence of the invisible princess. [1]

Apparently, human children are predisposed to believe and accept whatever stories adults tell them. By “adults,” we mean those whom children regard as more knowledgeable than themselves. Children do not begin with the assumption that seemingly knowledgeable individuals are lying. Although they may sometimes question the statements of adults, they generally appear to believe them or at least take them seriously.

In fact, children’s questioning at young ages is not yet the product of mature critical thinking, and the criteria they use to evaluate adults’ statements—such as touching Princess Alice’s chair—are not yet considered fully convincing to them. Perhaps the reason they do not rely on their own methods of verification is that they do not regard those methods as decisive and conclusive. They may think that there are still things adults know that they themselves do not know, and that their own criteria may not be sufficient for making a final judgment.

In any case, whether children arrive at the conclusion through cognitive development and reasoning that they should trust what adults tell them, or whether accepting adults’ statements is itself a psychological characteristic built into the human mind, this tendency can, overall, contribute to their survival and well-being.

If human children were predisposed to assume that adults are lying unless proven otherwise, they would easily put their lives at risk, and the advantage provided by language—the ability to transmit important and vital experiences—would be lost. It is through believing the stories and claims of adults that children avoid having to repeat useless, ineffective, or dangerous actions and increase their chances of growth, reproduction, and passing their genes on to future generations.

Moreover, regarding other members of the group as truthful and trusting them creates emotional bonds between individuals. In other words, a lack of trust and the assumption that other members of the family or group are dishonest can create resentment in relationships and distance between members.

Humans, aware of this issue, sometimes even pretend that they believe what others tell them. It appears that among members of the human species, trust is considered a component of morality, and those who are more receptive to accepting information—especially those who believe the stories and narratives accepted by the group—receive greater support from like-minded members. This, in turn, strengthens bonds and unity among members of the group.

In any case, the experiment by Jesse Bering shows that children possess a strong capacity to develop beliefs in the existence of supernatural, invisible, and mind-bearing beings. In other words, through possessing a Theory of Mind, human children are not only prepared to attribute minds to any living or non-living entity, but are also prepared to believe in the existence of a mind without a body.

However, when do children, in addition to believing in the existence of an invisible being in their surrounding environment, become capable of believing that this being has access to the contents of their minds and is aware of their feelings and thoughts?

Jesse Bering designed another experiment in which the answer to this question was one of the implicit findings. He hid a ball in one of two boxes placed on a table inside a room and asked children to guess which box contained the ball. He also told them:

“Princess Alice, who is an invisible princess, is present in the room and may want to help you. If you point to the wrong box, Princess Alice may somehow signal you to change your choice. You must figure out how Princess Alice is giving you the signal.”

If a child placed their hand on the wrong box—the one that did not contain the ball—the experimenters introduced a change in the room. For example, they turned a desk lamp in the corner of the room on and off using a remote control.

The expectation was that children would interpret this change as a signal from Princess Alice, who wanted to help them, and would change their choice by pointing to the other box.

Children younger than seven years old did not make a connection between the lamp turning on and off and Princess Alice’s intention, and they did not change their choice. However, children aged seven to nine years and older not only came to believe in the existence of Princess Alice’s mind, but also believed that Princess Alice’s mind was connected with their own minds and that she knew how important it was for them to find the correct box. Therefore, they concluded that Princess Alice empathized with them and, for example, turned the lamp on and off to guide them. [2]

Therefore, it can be said that between the ages of seven and nine, any person whom we trust can:

First: Instill in us the belief that an invisible and supernatural being exists.

Second: Provide us with any desired description of that being. They can introduce it as having limited powers—for example, being able only to create changes in objects within a room—or they can describe it as having the power to influence the weather, interfere with life and death, increase or decrease one’s fortune and income, cause illness or provide healing, and even create an entire world.

They can tell us that this being observes us from outside but has no access to our thoughts, or they can tell us that it is aware of all our thoughts, feelings, and everything within our minds. We acquire the capacity to believe the latter after the age of seven to nine, and from the moment we accept such a story, we experience the presence of a supernatural being within our own minds. From that point onward, there is someone present inside our minds.

At this stage, it is worth seeking answers to two questions:

Is there evidence showing that we truly accept the presence of another mind within our own minds—one that is aware of our thoughts at every moment?

If so, how long does this presence continue for us?