A fantastic article about the nature of belief:

[Taxloss]

I love Andrew Brown.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/wormseyeview/story/0,,1462549,00.html

Snip:

"... we all feel that the religion that suits our temperament is the
true one, but we cannot all be right. This does not, however,
lead him to suppose that all belief is illusory. He argues that
spiritual states are real because they make a huge difference in the world.

"They do not do this by inculcating false belief, he says, but by
producing emotion: real energy and courage. So religious beliefs may
be deceptions, but they are not in any simple way self deceptions."

[fshrink]

1. Marx answered this one 150 years ago.

So it's really getting old. And for the so-called human need for belief, it could be helpful to remember that we have other, way more powerful, needs that we keep in check so as to be able to live together and survive. We don't screw each other constantly, we don't kill each other on impulse etc... If one of us does that, he/she is deemed as having a problem that needs addressing. That's the bulk of what our "neo"-cortex: INHIBIT. So this oh-but-it's-wired crap only holds because it serves the masters' agenda.