so does belief = religion?

thats more my question

Thats biological instinct not belief

is the rain " superhuman controlling power"

then I'd say it's any belief in the supernatural

that's also shared amongst a group

I think the bides belive it is

*birds

so is religion an instinct run a mock?

I think the most basic reason to have religion (in an evolutionary sense) is in order to not kill yourself because we're all gonna die anyway

well 'religion' in the more modern sense..........are man made instutions

I think it's to help facilitate meaning in order to make life worthwhile

^^

not even to make it worthwhile, but to see cause and effect in nature

the trees grow because the tree gods willed them to

or perhaps each tree is a lesser spirit under the guidance of a forest god

either way lol

i think very strong beliefs of u-understood knowledge is basically religion, which predates humans.......to answer your question....

*un-

misunderstood?

un-understood

not understood

gotcha

I don't think you can say religion exists if people can't communicate that religion to each other, and that would apply to animals

The bids know nothing of precipitation, evaporation, boiling tempature......

and religion does require worship

*birds

there's a difference between religion and superstition

only that rain = worms

but do the birds actively worship a rain god in hopes he will grant them a blessing?

do the birds not pray for rain?

yes but they don't "think" about that cause and effect, their instincts just bring them in the direction of the worms because they evolved to doso

i suspect they perfom 'rituals' so that they find the lands in which there is rain....

evidence?

i think our brains are too big. stuff starts to form on it's own. pattern recognition engine never stops to work. that's why so many people are susceptible to conspiracies and religion.

I think you could definitely say that there's an adaptive reason for that

but not a genetic one**

yeah beliefs and religion are not genetic

it would be a behavioral adaptation

fair enough eric.......but look at any animal........what they thrive for (an ideal) & the repeating (sorry should be better word).....actions they do....

I don't know if you could even say that animals "thrive"