Why Humans Created God

Shortest Answer

To ‘become’ God

Short Answer

13.5 billion years ago Physics [matter & energy] came - not God. Then Chemistry [atoms & molecules] - not God. 4.5 billion years ago - Earth is formed by Physics & Chemistry - not God. 3.8 billion years ago - Biology [organisms] arrives. 2.5 million years ago first Humans evolved from Chimpanzees in Africa.

There were a lot of Human species [Homo - Neanderthalensis, Rudolfensis, Erectus, Sapiens, et al.] that existed together [not always at close proximity] between 2.5 million & 13,000 years ago. Then, accidental genetic mutations re-wired Sapiens’s brain & kick started - Cognitive Revolution. 

Cognitive Revolution: Mental process of acquiring knowledge & understanding via thought, experience, and senses.

Sapiens became smarter - created Language. Of course, they weren’t the pioneers at language. For instance, Sapiens’s cousins Apes & Monkeys had language. But, their language didn’t have the enormous ‘sophistication & range’ that Sapiens’s did. Case in Point - Chetan Bhagat & Leo Tolstoy are both writers, but the ‘sophistication & range’ are poles apart. Sapiens’s basic yet revolutionary linguistic abilities increased their survival rates & they began to move up from the ‘middle’ range to the ‘top’ of the food chain - slowly. For instance, better communication led to Sapiens not being butchered by the top-ranked lions as often. But, it wasn’t the sophistication of Sapiens’s language, but the lethal nexus of their linguistic skills & creating ‘imaginary things’ that truly led to their Usain Bolt speed march towards the Top.

Homo sapiens are the only organisms, including other humans, animals, everyone, who can make up - Absolute Hogwash & make other Sapiens believe in it. Case in Point - Ever try telling a lion to give you his/her food & in return s/he will get sent to lion heaven after death - Lion will eat you as well.

Question: How did creating ‘fictional things’ aid Sapiens race to the Top?

Language is great thing - it lets a bunch of individuals communicate, but it has limitations - particularly when there’s no WhatsApp, Internet, Cellphones, et al. Even today, it is an established belief that one individual can only genuinely know a maximum of 150 people. It wasn’t no different 70,000 years ago. To acquire real power the range must be large if not infinite. A range of 150, which even chimpanzees & wolves have, wasn’t going to cut it.

That’s where - myth-making - became the catalyst to break away from the limitations. For instance, if you meet someone you don’t know, never seen or heard of, but is from the same region & religion, you’re likely to believe that person more than someone who’s from another region & religion. If a myth is created successfully, it can connect an enormous number of individuals regardless of the fact they’ve ever met or know anything about each other. No other living being had [and still hasn’t] this ability to create ‘limitless networks’ with living beings they aren’t familiar with. For instance - Religion is one of the greatest network generator.

This myth-making still remains central to Homo Sapiens in 2017. No other species believes in anything that isn’t evident.

This myth-making ability is the reason Homo Sapiens are the only human species to survive & are on top of the food chain even when a lion, who can rip us apart within seconds, is scared of Sapiens & almost extinct. 

Now, the imaginary reality isn’t limited to - God, class/caste, race, countries, and sacred scriptures, it is everywhere around us. It makes the world go around. 

Let’s talk about Apple. Not the one you eat. The one you’re a proud owner of. We are made to believe it is real, but is it? Think about it. 

Apple was created in the garage by Steve & Steve in 1976. But, Apple isn’t any of those Steves. It is an entity which we call a - Limited Liability Company. If Apple were Steve Jobs, it would’ve stopped existing when Jobs was fired in 1985. It didn’t. Jobs died in 2011, the company lived on. Apple is immortal - almost. 

Puma, Ford, Levi’s, Rolls Royce, and thousand other companies’ creators are dead, but they live on. Rather rule on.

Baba Ramdev became this legend a bunch of years ago for yoga calisthenics. A few more years later, he became the brand ambassador of - Patanjali. People buy those products like they’ll cure them of cancer instantaneously. But, does Ramdev make those lotions & noodles he claims to be Ayurvedic. Certainly not - then why do we buy Patanjali products by the dozens? Because we believe in what Ramdev endorses. Our belief in Ramdev’s integrity is an imagination, not something concrete that be seen. 

Vijay Mallya, now a disgraced businessman, fooled tens of thousands by creating a myth of his integrity & business viability. If tomorrow a bunch of Sapiens die after eating Patanjali noodles, watch that spotless ‘perception’ of Ramdev vanish like magic.

Nokia was a world leader by a stretch in mobiles. Why? Because we believed in Nokia. If a phone had a stamp that read - Nokia, we unquestioningly bought it. What changed? Nokia didn’t start making phones that blasted or peed on its customers. Nokia phones didn't start molesting humans when inside our pockets - people simply started believing in new Gods - Apple & Samsung 

People fighting for separation [Kashmir, Gorkhaland, et al] are fighting for a mythical entity that they believe will bring them happiness even when history defies that logic [Bangladesh, Pakistan, et al] & happiness isn’t a signature on a paper. But, I digress.

At Wimbledon, all the players have to wear ‘whites’ including underwear [if visible]. Why? Tradition. Who created this tradition? Someone with impressive powers.

Ferrari is a myth. If Ferrari made cars when no one had the money to buy them, will it exist? All the luxury products exist because there’s inequality. Luxury is not about utility - it’s about Prestige. Evian [600 bucks a litre] water doesn’t taste better or even different than Bisleri [20 bucks]. People buy it because of the myth of Prestige. To stand apart - like God.

Feminism is another myth that didn’t exist 100 years ago in 1917. Then, boom, lightening struck. Some woman got out of her bed & charged into the streets propagating women’s voting rights in the US - kick-starting a new phenomenon. LGBT rights, Freedom of Speech, Right to Privacy, Independence, Visas, Society, Culture, Equality, Sensex, Patriotism, Morality, Marriage, are invented realities.

Cow is real. Cow is sacred is a created reality. River Ganga is real. Ganga being holy is a manufactured reality. Alcohol is real. Alcohol being against God is an illusion. Pope, the person, is real. Pope, the head of 1.2 billion Catholics, is an imagination’s marvel. 

After Judaism [3000 years ago] & Christianity [2000 years ago] were created complete with Holy Books, Arabs were deeply upset that they didn’t have their God. They finally caught up and invented Islam [1400 years ago] with Holy Quran.

Why do people believe in myths? No one will ever believe in anything unless there’s something in it for them. Almost all religions promise - Heaven for its followers. Heaven is this spectacular utopia when angels float & life’s beautiful - forever. Apart from the ‘big perk’ there are mini perks. For instance, Sikh Gurdwaras give out food to everyone who shows up at its doors. And people love belonging to something ‘special’ - Why else would over a billion muslim women fully cover their bodies perpetually even under sweltering 43 degree sun? Because they’re ‘sold’ to the idea that their bodies are ‘special’ & ‘pure’

I will wrap this ‘Short Answer’ by establishing the ‘fact’ of the ‘Shortest Answer’: Humans created God to ‘become’ God.

God isn’t limited to Allah, Jesus, Shiva, et al. In fact the traditional Gods are under threat from the New Gods - Google, Amazon, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Smartphones, Money, Super Power Countries, Nukes, Apple, Facebook, Zara, et al.

Amazon controls what & how you buy. Coca Cola controls what you drink. McDonald’s controls what you eat. Google controls what you see. Facebook controls your information. Instagram controls your behaviour. Air Conditioning controls when & where you go out. Religion controls your food habits, clothing, nature, and everything if you truly fall in love with the Holy Books & Almighty.

Look carefully - Allah or Smartphones themselves don’t acquire power because of their creation, it is the people who create them become the - Real Gods. Jeff Bezos [Amazon’s creator & now the richest human], Mark Zuckerberg, Baba Ramdev, Imams, Bishops, Donald Trump are the people who control the world. Their creations - personas, brands, Gods - are what enables them to control the lives of us lesser mortals, from birth to death, and beyond.

P.S. I want to state that Yuval Noah Harari [writer of ‘Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind’] was my major reference point for the historical evidences & foundation of this letter {article}. Mr. Harari, I reckon you’re a bloody legend. Respect!