Those who have a high ability to unknowingly learn 'potential patterns' are more likely to believe in a superior god.
Even in areas where the same religion is mainstream, there are differences in the degree of belief in religion among individuals. Experiments with people in the United States and Afghanistan have revealed that 'people who can unknowingly learn'potential patterns' from things are more likely to believe in God.'
Implicit pattern learning predicts individual differences in belief in God in the United States and Afghanistan | Nature Communications
Study Suggests Unconscious Learning Underlies Belief in God | Georgetown University Medical Center | Georgetown University
https://gumc.georgetown.edu/news-release/study-suggests-unconscious-learning-underlies-belief-in-god/
Unconscious learning fosters belief in God, study finds --UPI.com
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/09/09/Unconscious-learning-fosters-belief-in-God-study-finds/9091599651763/
Many people have a greater or lesser belief in God or religious things, but varying degrees of religious belief among individuals can cause a variety of social consequences. Researchers suggest that religious differences may be related not only to the social groups and demographic factors that led to the formation of identity, but also to the ability to perceive and process information. It is said that there is.
So a research team at Georgetown University conducted an experiment to investigate the impact of different abilities to learn 'potential patterns' from things on religious sentiment. Those who unknowingly recognize potential patterns are more likely to think that there is an order created by someone in the world, and believe in the existence of the 'God' who builds the world. The research team seems to have made a prediction that it will be easier.
To investigate groups of diverse religious backgrounds, the research team conducted experiments in the United States and Afghanistan, both geographically and religiously separated. The American research team collected 199 people who lived in Washington, DC and believed mainly in Christianity, and the research team in Afghanistan collected 148 people who lived in Kabul and believed mainly in Islam.
The subject was given the task of 'pressing the key corresponding to the position of the filled circle because one of the four circles displayed on the screen is filled.' The four circles quickly appeared and disappeared on the screen, so the subject had to look at the screen to locate the filled circles and press the corresponding key.
In this experiment, the circles to be filled were gimmicked, and in 50% of the trials which circles were filled was completely random, but in the remaining 50% according to a 'potential pattern' that was not communicated to the subject. The circle is filled. If the subject learns a potential pattern in a trial, the subject will gradually have a shorter reaction time from the time the circle is displayed until the key is pressed. In this experiment, it seems that subjects who learned potential patterns appeared in both the United States and Afghanistan, and some subjects pressed the key before the circle was actually displayed.
After each trial, the research team asked the subjects 'whether there was a certain pattern in the display of circles in this trial' and investigated whether learning was unconscious. As a result, it was confirmed that the percentage of subjects who answered 'there was a pattern in the display' was not related to the reaction time or accuracy until the key was pressed, and the subject's learning was unconscious. It was.
Analyzing experimental data and data on the subject's religious beliefs, those who excel at learning the most potential patterns are more likely to believe that 'there is a god who establishes the order of the universe.' Was found. This tendency has been confirmed in both the United States and Afghanistan, and it seems that it may be common regardless of region.
The research team is also investigating 'changes in religious sentiment from childhood to adulthood.' As a result, it was also found that those who are good at potential pattern learning will believe in God as they grow up, even if they do not believe in God in their childhood.
'Believe in God who intervenes in the world to create order is a central element of world religions,' said Adam Green, an associate professor of the research team. 'This is not a study of God's existence, but a brain. A study of why and how people come to believe in God. Those who are good at unknowingly identifying patterns in the environment may attribute those patterns to higher powers. '.
'What was most interesting to us was the overlapping patterns of cognitive processes and beliefs between the two cultures. Afghans and Americans are at least religious,' said Zachary Warren, who led the experiment in Afghanistan. It may be similar with respect to specific cognitive processes that understand religious beliefs and the surrounding environment. '
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