Mastery, Mathematics, and Religion

I have arrived at the point in my Riemann Hypothesis studies where some simple arithmetic and remembrances of long forgotten mathematics will no longer help. Every concept and every proof of a theorem in which I am interested requires much time sitting in front of my notebook trying to work out details requiring a breadth and depth of knowledge I do not possess.

It reminds me of why it was a good thing I never seriously tried to become a mathematician. The top students in my class would look at our homework assignments and within a short time have an uncanny insight into how to solve problems on which I spent many lonely hours working without a clue.

Yet, how is it different than most things that do not come naturally to me: philosophy, art, etc? Not much.

Religion, however, does come naturally to me. Religious thinking is an ordinary extension of my everyday cognitive processes. Let's take an example.

My neighbors went on vacation the other week. My mind assumes that even though they are not present for a week, I will see them again. I was correct in my reasoning. I saw them again once they returned. Infants successfully reckon these sorts of things.

Now, let's take the immortality of the soul. A loved one of mine dies. My mind is wired to believe that even though I do not see her, I will again someday. If I am not careful, I might be fooled by this pre-reflective cognitive belief into confusing traveling with immortality.

Let's take another example. I've never been to Spain. (Thank you, Three Dog Night.) Yet I believe that Spain is a place to which I could travel if I wanted. Authorities, people who live there, or those who have visited Spain assure me such a place exists. Authorities also assure me there is a heaven and hell, one of which I most assuredly will travel to one day. Once again, my pre-reflective cognitive processes might confuse Spain with heaven and hell.

The list of common cognitive processes that are used for religious thinking goes on. All religions use our normal everyday cognitive processes for their reasoning and beliefs.

That is not to say that upon reflection there might not be heaven and hell and the immortal soul. What should be kept in mind is that our pre-reflective cognitive processes, necessary to negotiate the world, are used for religious reasoning. It is one of the reasons why it is very easy for the atheist to win arguments against the believer. Religious beliefs are often a tangle of absurdities and inconsistencies born from unreflective thinking encouraged by pre-reflective cognitive processes that promote and sustain religious beliefs along with our everyday welfare.