Do Atheists Implicitly Believe in God and Life After Death?

[DRSB]

What I've always suspected

Do Atheists Implicitly Believe in God and Life After Death?
By Nathan A. Heflick


Are atheists actually theists on an implicit, subconscious level?

In my research, atheists (not shockingly) report extremely low levels of afterlife belief and belief in God (Means around 1.3 on a 1-5 scale, with 5 the highest). But, do atheists really not believe in these concepts, and can certain situations make them more open to these beliefs?

To answer this, it is important to bring up that people have both explicit, conscious attitudes and implicit, subconscious, and more automatic, attidudes. Jonathan Haidt, a leading social psychologist and professor at the University of Virginia, compares these two systems to a rider (the conscious part) and an elephant (the implicit part). We think the rider is in control, but really, it is just in a constant struggle to contain the elephant, and it often fails. He has also used the analogy of an emotional dog with a rational tail (the tail being the conscious mind and the emotional dog being the implicit sytem). Point is that these more implicit feelings and attitudes are important.

So, implicitly, do atheists believe in the Supernatural? Research suggests at least one instance in which this might be the case: when thinking of their own death.

In this study, atheists were randomly assigned to read either supposed evidence from near death experience reports that life after death is real or an essay arguing that these experiences do not prove that there is an afterlife. Then they were randomly assigned to write about death or a control topic. So, roughly 1/4 of the people were in one of four conditions: afterlife yes/death; afterlife yes/control; afterlife no, death; afterlife no, control.

Then after a delay and distraction (to make the thoughts of death implicit and outside of conscious awareness), participants (American) rated their agreement with an anti-American essay. Past research has found that when people are concerned with death, they agree less with this essay.

This study found that when atheists read an essay arguing against life after death, they responded to thinking about their own death (relative to the control topic) with increased pro-American attitudes. However, when they first read the essay arguing for life after death, they did not respond with increased pro-American attitudes.

This suggests that atheists were protected from mortality concerns by reading evidence that there is life after death, but not by reading the opposite. It is difficult (impossible?) to think of an argument for these findings that does include atheists accepting life after death evidence when thinking about their own death. On some (implicit) level, they had to for these effects to occur.

Other lines of research have found that priming people to think about God leads them to do more pro-social behaviors (like helping, although I could see such a prime doing the opposite in some cases). Interestingly, in most of these studies (though not all) there is no effect of religious belief on this effect. In other words, just like highly religious people, the God prime prime leads atheists (or at least no religiously affiliated people) to behave more pro-socially. Again, especially when these primes are not conscious, it is difficult to imagine why these primes would have these effects if atheists did not hold some sort of theism.

Psychologist Jesse Bering and others have found evidence that children natually perceive themselves as inmaterial (spiritual) beings. They also perceive other people this way. For instance, they think dead beings maintain psychological states, but not biological states, and do not react with shock when it appears that someone has gone through a physical object.

It seems reasonable that these early traces of theism in children never entirely go away, even for adults who explicitly deny these beliefs. Of course, this is speculation. But, it does seem to make sense.

So, if you asked atheists, they wouldn't say that they believe in life after death or God (I have and they don't). But, if the study taps into more implicit, subconscious attitudes, then atheists show atittudinal and behavioral responses that are very suggestive of them believing in God and life after death.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the ... fter-death

[Hermit]

From Psychology Today: "[Nathan A. Heflick] is in the top 5% of the world population in both pepperoni consumption and enjoyment and feels compelled to share that with the world."

[MrJonno]

Shock news atheists don't like the idea of dying and would prefer to avoid it!

[Sisifo]

What I've always suspected

snip snip a train of nonsensical statements in form and contentt

Any reason why you didn't paste the last sentence of the article by its own author? Is this:

image: obviously made up data, but enjoyable nonetheless.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the ... fter-death

[Hermit]

Sokal revisited. Why am I not surprised?

[charlou]

So, if you asked atheists, they wouldn't say that they believe in life after death or God (I have and they don't). But, if the study taps into more implicit, subconscious attitudes, then atheists show atittudinal and behavioral responses that are very suggestive of them believing in God and life after death.

Bollocks.

Citing sources for his references would be good for a start, but even without them, just reading his rationale in the article, I don't see how this so-called 'conclusion' (the wishy washy "very suggestive" notwithstanding) is drawn.

[Animavore]

I read an article that MRI scans show that atheists think about the world as if filled with agencies just like theists. This shouldn't be surprising as our brains aren't too different. Atheists just tend to rationalise it away. Only the likes of autistic people don't see the world like this. Talk of god's and agents confuses many of them where as it wouldn't confuse me. That is why I can still enjoy a film like The Exorcist or Carrie.
The author of this piece seems to be a believer and is putting a slightly odd spin on it.

[Sisifo]

I read an article that MRI scans show that atheists think about the world as if filled with agencies just like theists. This shouldn't be surprising as our brains aren't too different. Atheists just tend to rationalise it away. Only the likes of autistic people don't see the world like this. Talk of god's and agents confuses many of them where as it wouldn't confuse me. That is why I can still enjoy a film like The Exorcist or Carrie.
The author of this piece seems to be a believer and is putting a slightly odd spin on it.

The author admits that it's made up data and I agree with Seraph that it's a Sokal experiment, or just some laughs.

[charlou]

Heh.

[charlou]

What I've always suspected

What have you always suspected?

[Pappa]

Other lines of research have found that priming people to think about God leads them to do more pro-social behaviors (like helping, although I could see such a prime doing the opposite in some cases). Interestingly, in most of these studies (though not all) there is no effect of religious belief on this effect. In other words, just like highly religious people, the God prime prime leads atheists (or at least no religiously affiliated people) to behave more pro-socially. Again, especially when these primes are not conscious, it is difficult to imagine why these primes would have these effects if atheists did not hold some sort of theism.

This shows an incredible bias and blindness in the researcher's thinking. Atheists behave pro-socially when primed with ideas about god, so therefore they are implicitly theistic? There may be tons of other reasons, such as the traditional cultural linkage of religion and charity, or even an implicit desire to out-do the do-gooders.

[DRSB]

What I've always suspected

What have you always suspected?

I forgot to put a smiley. The omission of the last sentence in copy-pasting was not intentional.
Sorry, pressed for time on a business trip.

[charlou]

I forgot to put a smiley.

I thought it might have been another instance of your deadpan humour.

[Robert_S]

But I do believe in dogs and fifes after deafness. Fifes before deafness are just wrong, unless they are part of a complete orchestra.