Finding God

[Guest guest]

" The neurobiological approach to an " attractor state " helps us along

nicely as we strive to disclose furhte the unconscious origin of the

human creature's inclination to " people " the world with spirits,and in

particular with a supernatural Parent God.

 

Repeated states of activation at the critical early period of

development shape the structure of the neural circuits which then form

the functional basis for the enduring states of mind within the

individual.

 

Accordingly, what transpires between the offspring and caregiver

during the early period comes gradually to serve as not merely one

neurobiological " state " among many others but the central, enduring

" attractor state " of our ongoing lives.

 

The basic biological situation gives rise to the implicit, unconscious

level of perceptual, emotional " scheme " from which emanate our deepest

emotional longings and perceptual inclinations.

 

How could it be otherwise?

 

For many critical months and years our physical and mental survival

depends entirely on the caregiver; thus the affective intensity of

this " critical " early stage is colossal; we attach ourselves to our

provider with utterly spontaneous, unabated ardor; nothing is held

back; our needs for nourishment and care, for love, are " activated "

continuously, over and over again, thousands upon thousands of times,

to become rooted synaptically in our brains; our emotional " values "

are established in an indelible, permanent manner that seeks

fulfillment forever after along lines that affectively recall the

initial, primal interaction.

 

In short, we internalize into our developing minds early on the

instinct-driven, affective " pattern " that will govern our behavior as

we relinquish the immediate familial unit and move into the wider

world of culture, including of course the culture's religious dimension.

 

The " truth " of the religious narrative with the Loving-Parent God at

the center is confirmed implicitly, unconsciously through a primed,

fully readied

" attractor state " that resides at the fountain of our interpersonally

sculpted, impersonally wired brains.

 

We are not simply attracted to the religious narrative to which we are

eventually exposed; the system is completely dynamic: it is we who

also attract the narrative to ourselves, yanking it in, absorbing it,

mapping it onto the model, the scheme, upon which we've been relying

all along.

 

The attractor state within us is as eager for confirmation of its core

perception as those who offer the narrative to us are eager for our

acceptance of it and our entry into the flock.

 

It is not only religion, needless to say, but a wide variety of human

participations that are linked firmly to the basic biological

situation: our ongoing personal relationships at both the individual

and group level (spouce, family) our national loyalty and

identification with " motherland " and " fatherland " including the

" leader " of " chief " ; our absorption in music, art, poetry, literature;

and of course our inclination to make gods out of other institutions

such as science or philosophy.

 

However, because the spiritual and supernatural domain of religion is

imponderable, invisible, entirely unsupported by what we term

emperical criteria, because for billions of people everywhere mental

and emotional stablitiy depends significantly on religious ties, and

finally because religion must compete with other emergent systems and

brain states that come into play as an individual develops over time,

religion's humble, worldly task is to reinforce, to strengthen, to

deepen the participant's original, brain based convictions through

steady, even continuous exposure to ritual and to the word from early

childhood onward.

 

The neurons that fired together are wired together to create a primal

attractor state during the early period must be regularly activated in

the proper devotional context to ensure the continuation of the

supernatural attachment that emerged on the initial exposure to the

official, sacred narrative.

 

To put it another way, the worldly task of institutional religion is

to provide the flock with the inspiration to continue its mapping of

the primal, core experience of attachment to the parental figure onto

the orthodox version of the substitute Parent-God.

 

Unless this happens, the flock and earthy shepherds are apt to disappear.

Accordingly. to employ a few examples in illustration, when we hear

the gospel choir on television singing. " Jesus came and found me / and

put his arms around me. " we detect the primal attractor state of

union, with the biological caregiver humming along quietly beneath the

mapped-on surface expression of the core fantasy.

 

 

M.D. Faber

 

" The Psychological Roots of Religious Belief "