Religion and belief in the supernatural

The difference between Bem's results and the results of my replication was that in 2 out of 3 “successful” trials the words from SNP were recalled significantly better than the words from the SWP. Also, in one of these trials the significant effect was found in the control group and not in the experimental one. This goes against Bem's hypothesis that the memory facilitation through practice works “from the future to the past”. It looks more likely that my results were caused by the direct affect of the experimenter's mind on the data of the experiment. The classical “experimenter bias” effect is well known. This effect means that an experimenter unintentionally can influence the results of an experiment by giving the participants suggestive signals through voice intonations of facial expressions or by skewing the experimental data in the direction of the experimenter's expectation. But my experiment was safe against the classical “experimenter bias” effect, because the participants could not see or hear the experimenter; during the experimental session I was isolated from participants by the opaque screen, and the participants received all the instructions directly from the computer. The results too were worked out automatically by the computer; the calculating program was locked, which excluded the possibility of tampering with the data. The only way for the experimenter to affect the results was if the experimenter's mind was employing its ability of telekinesis, by directly influencing the random number generator in the computer. Because I expected that the SWP and the SNP should be recalled with different success, my subconsciousness might switch on and off the program of random numbers that the computer contained so that the computer selected the words from the SWP more frequently than from the SNP, or vice versa.

My results contributed to the discussions that go on the effects reported by parapsychologists. They showed that these effects are possible to replicate in an independent study, but not every time. This “incomplete replicability” distinguishes parapsychological effects from scientific, where systematic replicability is expected. What could be a cause of this difference? Sciences like physics or chemistry study inanimate objects which devoid any spontaneity and unpredictability within itself. For instance, physics of solid states studies metals, magnets, superconductors and similar macro objects whose properties are always the same. By contrast, parapsychology studies abilities of the human mind, such as ESP, telekinesis and clairvoyance. Even the human brain is an infinitely more complex object than any object researched by physics, and the human mind is even more complex. The element of freedom and unpredictability that is inherent in the mind makes the mind a notoriously difficult object to squeeze into the full scale replicability demand. Even in the mainstream sciences (e.g., biology, pharmacology and psychology) studies, in which measured effects include complex organisms, the replicability of results is not fully guaranteed and tends to decrease with time [32].

To summarize, the studies of parapsychological effects showed that supernatural events are not just science fiction, they do exist, but they cannot be manipulated the same way we manipulate physical events. For example, a stone thrown in a lake will always sink, but the mind's ability of the ESP or telekinesis can appear and disappear in different experiments even when the experimental methods stay the same. There is only a probability of that the earlier received parapsychological effects would be replicated. This may not be good enough for the purpose of practical applications of these effects, but for the purpose of this paper - to examine whether it is possible to observe supernatural events by means of a scientific experiment - the reviewed effects are sufficient. Unlike the effects in physics, conscious phenomena are unique and unreplicable on the full scale. We don't doubt that such phenomena as love, hope and belief exist. But all these phenomena are unique. One cannot love another person repeatedly, even less love another person because one was told to do so. And what about art? Paintings by Picasso, Rembrandt, Modigliani are unique and impossible to replicate with exactness. Dreams fall in the same category. Not a single night dream ever looks exactly like any other dream, yet we see dreams all the time. Magical phenomena, which parapsychology studies, are the phenomena of consciousness and not of nature. Their full scale replication may not be guaranteed but they are real. Shamans, priests, writers, artists and psychotherapists have been dealing with such phenomena for millennia, and now scientists too will have to learn to deal with such phenomena.

It is possible that the role of magical phenomena of consciousness in our future life will increase. It may be that a way will be found to increase replicability of some of these phenomena and use them in practice for the transfer of information or manipulation with technical devices without a physical medium. It is also possible that the whole picture of the world will change in an unpredictable direction. After all, the so called “anthropic principle”, which attracts an increasing number of advocates among scientists, states that the universe as we see it is impossible without intelligent observers [33][34]. Perhaps, the principle of the “universal sympathy” (i.e., the magical between a person and the universe) which had ruled the magical universe for ages and was replaced by the universal law of gravity in modern science, will eventually take its position back. As a result, humankind will cease to feel itself being isolated and alienated in the cold and indifferent universe, and the fear of the unavoidable (and possibly not so distant) perishing will change for a more optimistic mindset, in which achievements of science will not be opposed to magic and religion but integrated with magical and religious forms of coping with the universe.

Conclusion: The necessity of the supernatural

When Napoleon pointed out to French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) that he had not mentioned God in his book, Laplace replied “Sire, I had no need of that hypothesis” [35]. In contrast to Laplace, French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) who was critical towards official Catholic church, nevertheless was of the opinion that "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him” [36].

I started this paper with the questions: Why do people believe in god if there is no evidence of god's existence? Can one live without any belief at all? How do the religious belief, the belief in magic and the belief in science come together in the minds of modern rational people? Further analysis showed that the belief in god grew out of the early people's belief in magical reality of the afterlife. Spirits of the dead were the first gods. Eventually the belief in spirits developed into monotheistic religions which are hostile toward magic. But like birthmarks on our bodies, magical miracles accompany any religion.

Science broke into human minds like a comet and squeezed magic and religion to a limit but was unable to completely destroy them. Science despises magic as a fallacy. Religion dejects magic as a craft of the devil. Although many people today keep viewing themselves as believers in god, they deny their belief in magic. Some people deny that they believe in anything but hard scientific evidence. But psychological studies of the recent decades showed that these denials can be superficial: In the depth of the mind of most people the belief in magic lives on [37]. This belief feeds into both traditional and “rational” religious practices.

Critical thinking makes believers inquire into the evidence of the existence of god. Although these inquiries are inherently contradictive (if there were evidence, there would be no need in belief), they are not meaningless. Theoretical considerations and empirical studies show that both in the human consciousness and in the outer world there exist supernatural events. These events reveal themselves in the form of mystical experiences, parapsychological effects and physical events that cannot be satisfactorily explained by science. The presence of supernatural events is not an obstacle for science but it suggests that the piece of reality explained by science is only a tip of an iceberg. It is hard to express this thought better than Voltaire did this in one of his letters. After his aforementioned phrase that it would be necessary to invent God, he wrote “But all nature cries aloud that He does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it [38, p. 210].

But if god exists, why is there so much suffering in the world? Why terminal illnesses and fatal accidents, why innocent people die in wars, disasters and catastrophes? The answer is - because they are alive. For living creatures pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, happiness and unhappiness always go together. And those who live will have to die. But the distribution is unfair. Some people live long and happy lives, others are born in poverty, suffer and die young. For those who are less fortunate philosophy is not much of a consolation. Only the belief that there is God who is just and will put things right in life or after death can offer a helping hand .

Perhaps, when people die they discover that there is no God. But while they are alive, the belief in God helps the people to overcome sufferings and gives them meaning and hope.

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Abstract

This article examines the following questions: why do people believe in God if there is no proof; is it possible to live without faith; where is the correlation between religious faith, belief in science, and belief in magic in the consciousness of modern people. The conclusion is made that the belief in the supernatural world occurs as a result of emergence of the cognitive abilities in primeval human (such as powerful imagination) and deep grieving over the death of a congener. The souls of the ancestors, who populated the mystical world, became the first gods. Religion has gradually separated from magic, but retained its connection to magic trough belief in the supernatural. The psychological experiments of the recent decades demonstrated that despite the joint efforts of the official religion and science to uproot the belief in magic from modern Western society, the belief in the supernatural remained on the subconscious level. Presence of phenomena that cannot be explained by science confirms that belief in the supernatural is not strictly atavistic remnants of the human psychology of past historical eras, but has certain empirical foundation. The scientific novelty of this research consists in the following: religious belief is examined in the context of modern experimental research of magic though for the first time; a new claim is made on the agreement between science and official religion in the fight against magic. Among the main conclusions are the following: religion historically and psychologically emanates from earlier human belief in magic; having separated from magic, religion begins to view magic as an adversary in the struggle from human conscience; religion becomes antagonistic towards magic and views it as manifestation of dark forces.

Keywords: spirits of the dead, participation, illusion of control, mysticism, miracles, paranormal phenomena, magic thought, religious beliefs, changed states of consciousness, parapsychology

В этои? статье я рассмотрел вопросы: Почему люди верят в бога, если нет доказательств? Можно ли жить вообще без веры? Как соединяются традиционная религиозная вера, вера в науку и вера в магию в сознании современных людеи?? Анализ приводит к выводу, что вера в сверхъестественныи? мир возникает как результат возникновения у первобытного человека новых когнитивных способностеи? (таких как мощное воображение) и глубокого переживания факта смерти сородича. Души предков, населявших магическии? мир, стали первыми богами. Постепенно религия выделилась из магии, но сохранила с неи? связь через веру в сверхъестественные явления. Психологические исследования последних десятилетии? показали, что, несмотря на совместные усилия официальнои? религии и науки искоренить веру в магию у современных людеи? западнои? культуры, вера в сверхъестественное сохранилась на уровне бессознательного. Наличие явлении?, не объяснимых наукои?, подтверждает то, что вера в сверхъестественное не является исключительно атавистическим остатком психологии людеи? прошлых исторических эпох, но имеет под собои? эмпирические основания. Новизна: (1) Впервые религиозная вера рассмотрена в контексте современных экспериментальных исследовании? магического мышления; (2) Новым является и утверждение о союзе науки и официальнои? религии в борьбе с магиеи?. Выводы: (1) Исторически и психологически религия происходит из раннеи? веры человека в магию; (2) Выделившись из магии, религия начинает рассматривать магию как соперника в борьбе за сознание людеи?; (3) В итоге религия становится враждебна магии и рассматривает ее как проявление темных сил; (4) Наука вытеснила веру в магию в бессознательное, и потеснила религиозную веру. Однако наличие в мире явлении?, не объяснимых наукои?, доказывает реальность сверхъестественного мира; (5) Можно предположить, что в будущем противоречия между наукои?, магиеи? и религиеи? будут сглаживаться, а некоторые сверхъестественные явления, которые в настоящее время являются предметов острых дебатов, будут признаны официальным мировоззрением и, возможно, будут использоваться в практике управления определенными духовными и материальными процессами.

Ключевые слова: религиозные верования, магическое мышление, паранормальные явления, чудеса, мистицизм, иллюзия контроля, партиципация, духи предков, измененные состояния сознания, парапсихология

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