Atheism and Confirmation Bias

A reader sent me an article called Belief and the Brain’s God Spot, which stated “belief in a higher power is an evolutionary asset that helps human survival.” Stunning. A textbook example of confirmation bias — the logical error of seeing any data as proof of your cause.

In this case, the god-denier must never see anything but atheistic evolution, and in fact the attempt at god-denial taints any results they might otherwise legitimately discover.

Let’s look at a few quotes.

A belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain, which is programmed for religious experience.

Isn’t that what the Bible says? God created man. In other words, assuming the statement (if true) somehow relates to evolution is a logical error and displays a lack of critical thinking skills. Simply put, it’s bias.

Religious belief and behaviour are a hallmark of human life, with no accepted animal equivalent, and found in all cultures,

Again, just like Genesis. Man is different from the animals.

So far, a few generic statements which could apply to many different origins. However, the article continues to crash in flames, as it jumps to the conclusion those traits are due to evolution.

Some evolutionary theorists have suggested that Darwinian natural selection may have put a premium on individuals if they were able to use religious belief to survive hardships that may have overwhelmed those with no religious convictions.

Now they’re in la-la land. They’ve assumed (without proof) Darwinian evolution, and that bias prejudices their conclusions.

Simply put, the study isn’t useful for making the conclusion they did — Darwinian evolution — as the evidence also fits with the Bible (and LGM’s, but we digress).

Start with a corrupted worldview, get corrupted results. Garbage in, garbage out.

In contrast to the God-deniers, the Bible specifically tells you to avoid their logical errors and lack of critical thinking.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Always be a skeptic and check things out for yourself. Evolution and atheism are filled with logical errors — be different and use logic the God-denier lacks.

Atheism begins with a lack of critical thinking, continues with logical errors, and ends in absurdity. It may sound trendy at parties, but atheism proudly proclaims its inability to think clearly.

As we’ve always recommended, if you want to travel down the path of clear thinking, a good place to begin is Jason Lisle’s book Discerning Truth.

Filed Under: Logic

Recommended Citation:
Yeager, Darrin "Atheism and Confirmation Bias" (2023-11-23 14:45),
https://www.dyeager.org/post/atheism-and-confirmation-bias.html
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