Neuroscientists at Georgetown University tested volunteers on their ability to predict patterns of dots appearing sequentially on a computer screen. The volunteers who were able to subconsciously anticipate the patterns were found to be more likely to believe in a god than volunteers who lacked the ability to subconsciously recognize patterns.
From Georgetown University Medical Center:
"This is not a study about whether God exists, this is a study about why and how brains come to believe in gods. Our hypothesis is that people whose brains are good at subconsciously discerning patterns in their environment may ascribe those patterns to the hand of a higher power," he adds.
"A really interesting observation was what happened between childhood and adulthood," explains Green. The data suggest that if children are unconsciously picking up on patterns in the environment, their belief is more likely to increase as they grow up, even if they are in a nonreligious household. Likewise, if they are not unconsciously picking up on patterns around them, their belief is more likely to decrease as they grow up, even in a religious household.
