Natural Projection

Is it normal to sense a boogeyman in the dark? Of course. Can human beliefs be irrational and natural at the same time? Sure, that's how we're built. Evolution has provided us with a peculiar sort of constructive irrationality that is not merely a byproduct of natural selection, it has also helped form the basis of many of our most commonly held beliefs. Natural selection wants us to behave irrational at times in order to be on the safe side, so-to-speak. In other words, nature wants us to believe in things we can't see. And if you think about it a bit, you'll see that it has succeeded at this magnificently.

We personify objects and project a purpose or an intention upon them that don't have. Irrational? Sure. But there's a a method to this madness.

We don't need evolutionary psychiatrists to tell us that our species has a tenancy to personify inanimate objects and see them as living things, as agents with definite intentions. We know this ourselves (but evolutionary psychiatrists tell us this anyway, of course). Or are you not more likely to mistake a shadow in your room for an intruder than the other way around? In terms of natural selection, one of humanity's greatest challenges has always been, well, humanity itself. The threat posed by other humans has evolved to the hard-wired default assumption we all share, that of threatening human intent. That is why we have a great deal of difficulty seeing the objects we personify as having anything other than human causation as well.

Our tendency to personify objects also has to do with our tendency to believe in the dualistic theory of mind and matter. As studies with children have shown, we are natural born dualists who make a distinction between the two. We are born with the tendency to believe that the mind, a "me" back there, is some kind of disembodied spirit that inhabits the body and can therefore leave it and exist someplace else. Materialists reject this, of course, and this forms a major fault line between many religious devotees and non-believers, but this disposition to dualism remains all the same. One could even maintain that natural selection wants us to believe in the soul and, by extension, in God--albeit in a very roundabout way. Religion might actually be a by-product of instinctive dualism, in other words.

Studies with children have also shown that we are natural born teleologists as well. That is, we tend to assign a purpose to everything. And where does this tendency come from? It too evolved due to natural selection. Natural selection wants us to view entities as having an intention. In evolutionary terminology, the so-called intentional stance has been hard-wired into our brains to help us survive as humankind. When our ancestors encountered a lion, for instance, it was best for them not to delay their predictions as to its probable intention (otherwise they would not have had the honor of being our ancestors). This perceived intention speeds up the decision-making process considerably and contributed to our survival as a species.

We are biologically programmed to second-guess the intentions of entities whose behavior matters to us (lions matter). But what about objects? Well, imparting intentions or purpose to objects was the natural next step. Or ask a child if you don't believe me. He or she will tell you that the purpose of sticks in the forest is to scratch the backs of animals who have an itch, or that clouds are there for raining. Everything has a purpose, just as the lion has his.

Or ask yourself, for that matter. And be honest. When was the last time you lost your temper and took out your frustration on a blameless inanimate object as if had meant to vex you intentionally? Like the rest of us when this happens, you've been had here by HADD (Hyperactive Agent Detection Device). Here too, humans hyperactively detect agents where there are none. If you have an important appointment to get to and your car suddenly won't start, this might make you suspect malice where there can be none. Freaking out and cursing your car in rage won't help but you'll most likely do it anyway. Irrational? Certainly. But now at least you will know that there is a method behind your madness.

So what does any of this projecting of intent on the inanimate matter to you? Not much, really. Not in the big picture, anyway. The war of nature continues on, with or without us, as does its magnificence and transcendent wonder. But recognizing mechanisms like this for what they are might at least serve as a little reminder to you that "things" are never what they appear to be. Especially after you have just attributed them with a purpose or an intention they can't possibly have.

Book Sources:
The Meme Machine
by Susan Blackmore (May 16, 2000)

The Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins (May 25, 2006)

Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe
by Martin J. Rees (May 8, 2001)