any neurological force that influences the way humans percieve the world and others is a perceptual force. perceptual forces are amorphous entities arising from a complex system of interactions of the nervous system. they are often nearly impossible to describe fully through language. they are things that are felt.
love can transform the way we see another person. greed changes the way objects are desired. sadness can morph a beautiful scenery into a drab landscape.
while arising from our neurological network, perceptual forces can be influenced by outside forces. environment, relationships, discourse, and beliefs are a selection of factors that greatly influence the strength of perceptual forces.
for example, imagine two different environments where you meet a stranger for the first time. one environment is in a dmv office and the other in a scenic park. the dmv office's bland interior and oppressive atmosphere will flare up perceptual forces of a pessimistic quality: annoyance and sadness. the stranger will then be transformed by our perceptual forces into someone we would rather not interact with. the scenic park, alternatively, may influence perceptual forces to transform the same individual into a pleasant, friendly figure.
the god-perception is a unique perceptual force that does not enter into common discourse outside of religious contexts (even though it is a force that interacts with all contexts). some individuals may refer to the "feeling" of god-perception as spiritual, transcendent, or holy.
when god-perception is in action, the world around you can appear profoundly significant. events can take on an intentional quality (i.e. "this was meant to happen"). essentially, god-perception allows us to perceptually transcend the physical world.
ritualistic behavior such as meditation and worship practices are common features of societies that attempt to invoke god-perception.
studies done on the effects of psilocybin, lsd, and other hallucinogens reveal the neurological basis of the god-perception. similarly, the neurochemical explanations of schizophrenia, while inconclusive, point toward a disorder in the mechanisms connected to god-perception. the common paranoid delusions of godlike stalkers (whether that be the CIA, demons, aliens, etc.) further provide evidence for this connection to a disordered god-perception.
since the term "god" holds so many cultural connotations, i will conclude by addressing what god-perception is not. the major difficulty of this concept for modern readers is fully disconnecting the religious connotations that have been placed on god-perception since the beginning of religious thought.
god-perception is not a moral force. it does not have a defined set of "correct" actions that must be done to satisfy some allusive desires of a higher power.
god-perception does not inherently point to the existence of a literal diety or dieties. it is a neurological phenomenon. like stated in my previous post, one should not use this reasoning to justify dismissing god-perception. it is as vital as happiness or sadness, if not more so.
acknowledging god-perception as a real perceptual force does not mean one has to be "religious" or "spiritual." acknowledgment of god-perception is allowing oneself full access to their perceptual abilities
while god-perception has led to the formation of organized religion and the creation of countless metaphorical representations (i.e. gods), god-perception does not fit fully within any one religion. one can be an atheist and acknowledge god-perception.
to summarize, god-perception is an amoral, areligious force that can influence our worldview in profound and multifaceted ways.