I’ll start with a quote that seems relevant:
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke

I think this willingness to believe in ‘magic’ is certainly not limited to sports, or to dead giveaways like voodoo dolls. It seems to me that a human’s willingness to connect any cause with any effect, however illogical, when suggested by observation, is actually a deeper instinct than the need for logical explanations. In fact, an infant only learns about cause and effect through observation. When a baby moves certain muscles, and then sees its arm move as a result (‘as a result’ is only the conclusion we attach to the observation), it is presented with a connection between its internal processes and its influence on the outside world, i.e. what is observed. When this happens repeatedly, the child learns that the two are connected. After many years of learning through observation and experimentation, a person reaches a state where he or she has a workable understanding of the world, a theory or model (or several) that allows you to think critically about whether something is actually causing something else, or it just seems that way but is actually a coincidence.

However, we never stop learning. And we never stop observing, and using those observations to refine our idea of reality. If I clap my hands, and lightning strikes, I know it’s a coincidence. If it happens again, I’ll be surprised, and a bit confused. If it happens fifty times in three days, I know something’s up. And I will certainly avoid clapping my hands when standing on top of a high building.

In conclusion, I believe that although logic and theories are all very fine and often useful, observation will always take precedence. I also believe that the fact that the universe makes sense to us and continues to make sense, is partly just luck. If at noon tomorrow, gravity decides to stop working, or cause and effect are no longer connected, there is no complaints department that will reinstate them for us just because they are ‘logical’, or because we have any kind of right to a world that makes sense. All we have is the experience that things have always worked a certain way, and the assumption that they will continue to do so. Frankly, that is indistinguishable from magic.

Any direct links to support “many atheists find religion”?