Blather, rinse, repeat

Well, now I have to friend you. (May I?)

I started the exact same process of thinking about two years ago and it renewed my interest in astrophysical theory. Till then I had at least some leftover old-fashioned spiritual belief. As in "I don't need proof because I feel it." But in my junior year at college I took more advanced psychological courses and found out how often and with what consistency the brain tricks us into perceiving and feeling things that are not there. That spawned of the most depressing existential crises I've ever had but also led to my obsession with science and its answers. So I guess it's all good. :-)

By the way, one of the better psychological books that I have read about how people deceive themselves with mainstream religion (and how this developed as a defense mechanism with the development of consciousness) is Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death".