Mood effects beleif?

[Nothingbody]

Hey folks, I was just wondering I read in a book that somtimes things like a headache or stomache ache can affect if you believe or not, say you gave 50 people a disability that would affect their life in a bad way, and 50 people lived a healthy low-stress life, the first group would have a higher percentage of religious people because they think if there are dieties they have gone mad or there just are none because of the way their life is going. The second group would think they couldn't do this themselves or feel they needed to thank somebody so they believe in a God or diety. Does that sound pretty reliable and truthful? Just looking for opinions or links to somewhere else it talks about this please. bye.

[AuntieSocial]

Hi Nothingbody. Welcome to the board!

Can you give us a reference to the book or article you read? I would like to read up on the theory before commenting.

Was the author a professional analyst (psychologist or psychiatrist)? What were the parametres of selection of the test subjects? etc ...

[Nothingbody]

Thanks for the welcoming and reply!
I actually read about it in a book called "And Now, and Here: on Death, Dying and Past Lives" by Osho its a spirituality book. It was the first time I heard the theory but it seems very logical to me, but if he's the only one saying this and no real experiments have been done then I'd be hesitant to take it as true.

[Hilly]

I think that there may be a higher percentage of god belief among people who have or are facing a great deal of adversity. This may be due to a feeling of being unable to carry on without the help of a higher power to turn too. Also the belief that upon reaching heaven said disability would dissapear. As for headaches and such I can`t see something that minor as having an effect on belief.

[zoul]

The theory sounds abit susspect to me but. If i read the book i might have a clearer idea of what you meen. Saying that though if people that are under stress with stomache pains and head aches then they are more unlikley to read or study or even think to much about other things than the pain they are suffering.
But i'm not sure if 50 people with pain will look at religion any differntley than 50 healthy people. Individuals are a mix of experiances, life events and the enviroment. Alot depends on their mind sets, to be skeptical you need a mind set that tells you not to accept any old idea that people can imagine to be true. to be scientific you need a mind set that tells you to look deeper and find the best truth you can. To be religous all you need is to have faith.
Faith by it's very nature is a belief in something without any evidence.
As apposed to reasonable expectaion something that alot of people seem to get mixed up. go figure

[dragonfly]

Regardless of the book just using my own observations (bare in mind my persepective is only my own) I think that there is no clear reason for faith in a deity or lack of it...we are formed by so many things, even our dreams.

I have seen as many peoples faith strengthened by hideous adversity as those whos are destroyed by it. Some people take the view that what ever has happened it could be worse...some people say "how could that happen to me I don't deserve it?"(as if life had any sense of balance or fairness).Some people actually believe that negative experiences are a purpose by which their faith may be tested or measured.( I confess I am not one of them and the opportunity for character strengthening may also be doubtful, although it is true some people rally after a blow that may fell another)

I have heard it said that some people when given a glass from which a quantity of water has been removed will either percieve it as half full or half empty.This says alot but either belief could be shared equally by those who have a belief in a god as do not....in fact my own opinion on the glass will fluctuate according to my mood and circumstance.

There are as many answers as there are people.

#nosmileys

[Supremor]

Hi Nothingbody,

I agree with you dragonfly. To say that disabled people have a lower percentage of theists, to abled people, is a very sweeping statement. In order to understand what effect being disabled has on your beliefs, you must look at a large group of them and analyse everypart of their upbringing, health, jobs, ect. You may well find when you do this, that most disabled people that you've talked to, have a job in the art's industry, or the hospital industry, or whatever. Only when the only two factors that are consistent, are belief and being disabled, are you qualified to make a statement, and even this may be inaccurate.

[Nothingbody]

Thanks for all the replies!

dragonfly said:

...in fact my own opinion on the glass will fluctuate according to my mood and circumstance.

That is what the theory is trying to explain (thats how I took it) that head aches or stomach aches, also he talks about our liver having an effect on it as well, having a huge part in deciding our mood and wether we will see that glass as half empty or half full. The author just spoke about it in a religious sense but if the theory holds some truth I don't see why it wouldn't effect ways we see other things. I'm not too sure about it, I wish I could ask the author more questions about it or find another article on the subject. But thats how I took it.

[ck]

I really didn't get that either but i think is the book trying to say that people that are in more pain than others will more likely believe in god? If that makes any sense

[Nothingbody]

Actually ck its the opposite, those who's life holds more pain will be less likely to believe in a diety than those who's life holds less stress and more happiness. Thats what the author says but so far I havn't found any other mentions of this theory.

[Maverick]

I am inclined to think that people who are in greater amounts of pain or are facing increasing difficulty would believe in a deity in higher percentages than those without pain or adversity. This stems off of the idea that those in pain are more likely to seek help than those who aren't in pain.

But I think it can work both ways depending on the circumstances of the person's life, what the person has been taught, what other beliefs that person has, etc. Some atheists don't believe in a deity because they encountered pain in theism. So I don't know if you can narrow belief down to the problem of pain and suffering. You definitely cannot generalize it for all theists or atheists since different people are motivated by different things.

[ck]

ok thanks for clearing that up

[Ginnsu]

Hello Nothingbody, I'll just throw in a few words that might show how you could look at this from an opposite angle.

I have often thought that it might be possible that belief actually effects mood. Especially when you consider how much of society choses to belief and how much choses not to. I'll give some insight into my life so you can see what I mean. In the small town where I live, theism, especially Christian theism has an overwhelming presence. Where as there is almost no presence of non-theists. At least there is nobody motivated enough to start a non-theist group for like minded people to "congregate" in. When one goes to church every sunday as part of their weekly routine, one gets to know many people who are most likely of the same theistic stance as they do. This can be comforting because it makes one feel like one is a part of something larger then themselves.

When I went through the process of moving from theism to atheism, this is what I would say I struggled with the most. I was moving away from a large group into a position where it was really hard to find anybody who agreed with my non-theistic stance. I would have to say that this did effect my mood and the way I looked at society around me.

Also in almost all theistic beliefs (all that I know of besides buddhism,) you have this supreme being, or group of supreme beings that you are told are looking out for you, or who love you, or who care about what happens to you after you die and thus will reward those who do it all right in this life, or who show all of the aformentioned attributes. When one has a supreme being that one feels close enough to, to help them deal with lifes trials and tribulations, I truely think it can take a small load off. This is regardless of how real or imagined I myself think this supreme being is. It is still something to help people deal.

So, what I am basically saying is that I have noticed in myself an others is that people need people to congregate with. They also often feel the need to love and be loved by an imaginary being. I myself have felt the need for both those things, but have not been able to reconcile the existance of the supreme being without proof. So I have willingly taken away from myself something that I have noticed helps others day to day mood.

I must note, though, that I do recognize that there are exceptions on both sides to almost everything I have said. And as has been noted in this thread a few times already, to truely understand a persons reasons for belief or non-belief and the way their individual moods relate, you'd have to investigate every aspect of their life.

I hope this helps.

[AuntieSocial]

Maverick

I am inclined to think that people who are in greater amounts of pain or are facing increasing difficulty would believe in a deity in higher percentages than those without pain or adversity. This stems off of the idea that those in pain are more likely to seek help than those who aren't in pain.

From my own observations, I have found that those who suffer in life generally have a greater level of faith than those who do not. I believe this is a product of wanting better. This life hasn't been especially joyful for them so they cling to the idea of a better life after we die.

[Kalena]

I don't think this is something that can easily be determined. I've known people who suffered but have no belief and those who haven't suffered to have belief. It is also the same reversed. I agree with those who said you have to determine all the aspects of the person's character and lifestyle.