Curious how five human "experts" might have answered the question. Also noted that the responses did not consider research in neuro-theology, anthropology of religion, or non-deistic models of 'god'.
davew On Mon, Dec 15, 2025, at 10:45 AM, glen wrote: > I made the same query to 5 other services, then sent your ChatGPT > output and that of the other models to Claude, asking it to assess > their comparative utility. Here's Claude's response: > > On 12/15/25 8:44 AM, Claude wrote: >> ## Comparative Analysis >> >> **Most Comprehensive:** Perplexity >> - Extensive citations (20 sources) >> - Balances cognitive science, psychology, evolutionary theory >> - Addresses "why diversity" directly with cultural evolution framework >> >> **Most Accessible:** ChatGPT >> - Clear structure with visual markers >> - Balances depth with readability >> - Offers follow-up paths >> - C.S. Lewis quote adds resonance >> >> **Most Scientific:** Kimi >> - Tightest evidence-to-claim ratio >> - Specific research examples (e.g., "age four" development) >> - Quantitative data (90% vs 30-40% belief rates) >> >> **Most Concise:** Copilot >> - Hits key points efficiently >> - Good synthesis without redundancy >> - Practical global data >> >> **Most Philosophical:** ChatGPT >> - Explores meaning-seeking deeply >> - "Languages describing same sky" metaphor >> - Acknowledges overlapping explanations gracefully >> >> **Weakest:** Gemini & Le Chat >> - Standard coverage, no distinctive insights >> - Gemini's formatting cluttered >> - Le Chat too generic >> >> **Verdict:** Perplexity for research depth, ChatGPT for general audience, >> Kimi for academic rigor. > > > > On 12/14/25 8:45 AM, Owen Densmore wrote: >> I asked ChatGPT: why in the world do a large majority of people & cultures >> believe in an afterlife and a god, even though there are lots of different >> religions for these >> >> .. and got this back: >> >> This is one of the *deepest human questions*, and it’s one philosophers, >> anthropologists, psychologists, and theologians have wrestled with for >> centuries. The short answer is: *belief in God and an afterlife appears >> everywhere because it grows out of something universal in the human >> condition* — not because cultures copied one another or because they all got >> the details right. >> >> Let’s walk through the main reasons. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🌍 1. It’s Nearly Universal (Anthropology) >> >> Across time and geography: >> >> * >> >> Every known human culture has *some concept of the sacred*. >> >> * >> >> Burial practices going back *100,000+ years* suggest belief in life >> beyond death. >> >> * >> >> Even isolated tribes independently develop beliefs in: >> >> o >> >> spirits or gods >> >> o >> >> moral accountability >> >> o >> >> some form of existence after death >> >> This suggests belief is *not accidental or purely cultural*. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🧠 2. Humans Are Meaning-Seeking Creatures (Psychology) >> >> Humans uniquely: >> >> * >> >> ask /“Why am I here?”/ >> >> * >> >> experience awe, wonder, guilt, and transcendence >> >> * >> >> grieve the dead and sense their absence /deeply/ >> >> * >> >> intuit that *love, justice, and beauty matter beyond survival* >> >> An afterlife answers questions biology alone can’t: >> >> * >> >> Why does love feel permanent? >> >> * >> >> Why do injustice and suffering feel /wrong/, not just unpleasant? >> >> * >> >> Why does death feel like an interruption rather than an ending? >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> ⚖️ 3. Moral Intuition Points Beyond Survival >> >> Every culture develops: >> >> * >> >> moral laws (good vs evil) >> >> * >> >> accountability beyond mere power >> >> * >> >> praise for self-sacrifice >> >> But evolution alone explains *how* morals help groups survive — not *why* we >> feel they are /binding/ or /sacred/. >> >> An afterlife offers: >> >> * >> >> ultimate justice >> >> * >> >> meaning for sacrifice >> >> * >> >> hope that goodness is not wasted >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🌌 4. The Experience of Transcendence >> >> People across cultures report: >> >> * >> >> mystical experiences >> >> * >> >> near-death experiences >> >> * >> >> encounters with “the divine” >> >> * >> >> overwhelming awe in nature, art, or love >> >> Even skeptics admit: >> >> Humans are wired to experience something that feels *bigger than the >> self*. >> >> Different religions interpret this *shared experience* differently. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🕯️ 5. Death Demands an Answer >> >> No culture treats death as /nothing/. >> We: >> >> * >> >> bury >> >> * >> >> mourn >> >> * >> >> remember >> >> * >> >> ritualize >> >> Belief in an afterlife may be humanity’s answer to: >> >> /“If love and consciousness matter, how can they simply vanish?”/ >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> ✝️ 6. Why So Many Religions, Then? >> >> Because humans are: >> >> * >> >> finite >> >> * >> >> cultural >> >> * >> >> historical >> >> Think of it like *many languages describing the same sky*: >> >> * >> >> different symbols >> >> * >> >> different stories >> >> * >> >> overlapping truths >> >> Religions often agree on the *core intuitions*: >> >> * >> >> reality has meaning >> >> * >> >> humans are accountable >> >> * >> >> love and justice matter >> >> * >> >> death is not the final word >> >> They differ on the *details*. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🧭 7. Three Major Explanations (Side-by-Side) >> >> Explanation What it Says >> *Psychological* Belief helps humans cope with fear and death >> *Evolutionary* Belief promotes social cohesion >> *Philosophical / Religious* Belief reflects a real transcendent source >> >> These explanations *don’t cancel each other out* — they can overlap. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🕊️ A Thought Many Find Compelling >> >> C.S. Lewis put it this way: >> >> /“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can >> satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another >> world.”/ >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> 🧠 Bottom Line >> >> People across cultures believe in God and an afterlife because: >> >> * >> >> humans universally seek meaning >> >> * >> >> love, justice, and beauty feel ultimate >> >> * >> >> death feels wrong, not natural >> >> * >> >> conscience feels real, not invented >> >> * >> >> transcendence is repeatedly experienced >> >> Different religions may be *human responses* to something real — or, as >> believers hold, *partial glimpses of a greater truth*. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> If you’d like, I can explore this next from: >> >> * >> >> a *purely scientific viewpoint* >> >> * >> >> a *Christian philosophical argument* >> >> * >> >> a *skeptical critique* >> >> * >> >> or how *modern atheists respond* to this question >> >> Just tell me which angle you want. > > > -- > ¡sıɹƎ ןıɐH ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ > ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα σώσω. > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. > / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. 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