Bait and Switch

Ophelia, over at ButterfliesAndWheels, quite rightly questions the assertions by Bruce Hood that ‘the battle by scientists against "irrational" beliefs such as creationism is ultimately futile’ because magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force. 

 

While it’s quite possible that the need for religion is hardwired, professor Hood’s experiments actually seem to be showing the effect of something else, namely sentiment, not religious belief. A classic case, as Ophelia points out, of "bait and switch". On this showing, the professor will have to do better than this if he is to demonstrate that he is doing good science rather than fatuous comparisons..