Believe in miracles !!!

Believing in miracles seems to be incompatible with modern life.

The third answer is that belief in miracles has cognitive and developmental origins. According to recent psychological research, a cognitive mechanism that detects violations of the laws of nature is in place as early as infancy. In one experiment, two-and-a-half-month-old infants consistently showed ‘surprise’ when they witnessed their toys appearing to teleport or pass through solid objects. Some psychologists even argue that such a violation of expectations creates an important opportunity for infants to seek information and learn about the world. In these experiments, infants spent more time exploring toys that violated their expectations than toys that did not. Some of them were even eager to test their ‘hypotheses’ by banging the toys that appeared to pass through a wall or drop the toys that appeared to hover in the air. Some psychologists also argue that belief in miracles has survived for a long time because miracles have a common character: ‘minimal counterintuitiveness.’ That is, well-known miracles often deviate slightly from intuitive expectations but do not involve overly counterintuitive elements. They spread successfully through generations because while they offer an idea that is challenging enough to attract attention, they also avoid over-taxing people’s conceptual systems. The hypothesis of minimal counterintuitiveness has been supported by psychological experiments. Many well-known miracle stories—such as Jesus walking on water and Muhammad instantly restoring the sight of a blind person—are indeed minimally counterintuitive because they are only slightly counterintuitive.

The third answer, which appeals to the cognitive and developmental origins of belief in miracles, seems to be most compelling. It is important to note, however, that this answer does not imply that miracles can never take place. Consider a parallel example: Suppose that psychologists discover that hungry people tend to see illusions of biscuits in their cupboards. This does not mean that whenever hungry people see biscuits in their cupboards they are seeing illusions. It may well be the case that they really do have biscuits in their cupboards. Similarly, even if psychologists can explain that there are cognitive and developmental origins of miracle beliefs, whether miracles can actually take place is a separate question.