I was just wondering (in fact, for a long time) What would happen if a person would grow up, without getting pushed to "believ" in something And by that, i mean nothing, as in, growing up in the wilderniss, with noone around you.
That. But without the danger of dieing in the very first day of your life.
The question is just: If there was noone / nothing to control the minds/way of thinking of a child, would it believe? And if yes, in what?
It's possible that our ability to anthropomorphize is how gods came into existence in the first place. When left alone with no education or outside influence a human could possibly reinvent such things.
Well, I would say I would be a good example for this case. I did not grow up in the wilderness or anything like that. I was raised by some very educated family members. From as long as I can remember, I was never told to "believe" in anything specifically.
Instead, I was given several books on different religions upon my request. Those who raised me tried to teach me to use my head correctly and make my own decisions.
In fact, religion was never discussed in my household. It was only introduced to me at friend's houses. There I did receive some pressure from those parents. But would always ask them, apparently uncomfortable questions.
Things like, "Why do you believe in something you are not sure is there?"
(Mind you, this is coming from an 8 year old)
So....where does this leave me as an adult? In my opinion, logical and always open to be proven wrong in my personal theories. Also, I never, ever say I "BELIEVE" in anything. I just think that my personal thoughts on the matter at a given time are just a good idea until proven false.
Denmark generally have a way laid back vision of religion. Some teens even get "nonfirmated" (like confirmation, but... not), and a good deal do the latter for the party, the gifts and the money. The churches are mostly empty, and not many know when to rise during church. There is no real pressure, and most can go through life without being in a church more than 10 times, some even less.
Some end up utterly distant from religion, others have a vague idea of how it should be, and what they need religion for (this would be having a "roper" wedding and burial, and that is pretty much it), others conclude they actually believe themselves to be Christians (though probably still rather laid back on the extremist-atheist scale), even though it is not discussed at home. And I forgot where I was going with this, so I will just post it anyway.
I suppose, then Cenere, we had it the same way. It was just a non-issue in my household. If religion was ever discussed, it was discussed just like any other subject.
I suppose, then Cenere, we had it the same way. It was just a non-issue in my household. If religion was ever discussed, it was discussed just like any other subject.
Pretty much. Usually it goes by that my brother and I make some points about Christianity, or my dad pondering about becoming Asa. Nothing much. All of us are Christians on paper, none of us go to church regularly, if at all unless there is special occasions, and there is not really any discussions about it, because... Why should we. Basically you are more likely to be discriminated because of race or sexuality than getting a remark on your religion. And sexuality just because people might consider it a bit weird (regular, rare gay bashers, that is it), not because it is against the bible (though some priests are now being all annoyed that homosexuals should be allowed to actually get married in the church, and not just blessed), and the race... Well, it happens like everywhere else, and still is only really common when older people have discussions about jobs.
No, no, i don't mean "forced to believe" i mean "no influence at all" Parents can tell their children to believe, just by believing. Kids look up to their parents.
@Wolf Okay, but would it be a "god"? @Redace "nothing to live for" ... @Cenere I kind of agree, just If homosexuals can't get married for the church I really don't get why they're still believing in that specific church anyway. Also, indeed Most of the children do their communal etc for the presents
@Everyone You don't believe they know what's going till they see the presents right?
Someone who witnesses heavy storms, earth quakes, or any other naturals event with no knowledge of what they are, they would be likely be afraid of what's going on. Add to this there attempt to put a familiar face on it (their own). You could very well end up with a seemingly all powerful being, at least to that person.
If you were on your own like you described, i think you would not be influenced by the modern day world and revert to human insticts and nature. You wouldn't believe in anything, just do what you have to do to survive.
I believe Funky is right here. As the feral children have been posted in this topic. I would imagine the only concern is survival, like Funky mentioned.
On the other hand, I suppose that some very obvious "magical" experiences happen with feral children. For example, the sun setting and rising. They could associate heat/warmth with sun and life-giving qualities.
I mean, is that not how religion began on day 1? We all just worship a different form of the Sun God.
I never had any pressure to believe myself, as no one in my family associates with any set religion. My parents believe in god, just couldn't care a less about any of the religion stuff.
And I never really cared much myself. Whether there is a god or not is mine to find out when I die, until then, I'll say there is just for the sake of it, but I'll readily say there is or isn't if given definite proof.
But as for the original question, they would form their own gods or deities. They may not worship them, but they would believe they are there. I believe any uneducated sentient creature would.
Remember, humans as we know of today have always believed in something, dating back thousands of years. (as a whole of course, not necessarily every individual)
So a child is born into the wilderness with no one around it? Hmm...I guess it would think instinctively. It would HAVE to think like a wild animal, since 1) it is one, and 2) in order to survive. I suppose it would have such an intelligence to think of a higher being in existence, but how would one surface? On what grounds would it have to think that a higher being is present in its life? I'm going to say out of the grounds of doing something rewarding/detrimental.
If you know you're going to be positively rewarded for performing an act, you're going to keep doing it right? So saying that it hypothetically lives in a Savanna and eats zebra, if it eats the muscle he is not harmed, but if it eats the innards as well and gets sick from eating so but cannot logically explain it, it would think that Enchilladotuilluptah wants it to eat only the muscles because it angers him when it eats the innards. Enchilladotuilluptah wants you to only eat the muscles! Enchilladotuilluptah wants you to sleep in caves, not out in the open! Enchilladotuilluptah wants you to make friends with animals you do not like, not hassling them! Enchilladotuilluptah wants you to not stare at animals when they mate! Blah blah blah.
Point is, since it is alone, it would only adhere to its thoughts around him, not what other people say. It would be totally independent of his beliefs and would impossibly be swayed by others. Of course if another human walks by and spots it and they both get into an argument over their beliefs, well....WELCOME TO THE FIRST RELIGIOUS WAR, C. 20,000 B.C.E!
