Modern man? What outdated terminology!

How? The same way modern people believe in political parties. Religion and politics are different aces from the same deck of cards. One has a dogma, the other has a party platform. Both subsist on selling fear, hope, and empty promises of a better life. Both demand unquestioned loyalty, etc.

Because most people are brainwashed practically from birth about God and Jesus.

In a word, I think a lot of people really believe in magic, even if they don't see it that way. The insecurities of mortal existence can make some of us desperate enough to believe almost anything.

How many religious folk in the modern world think that the critical difference between themselves and ancient peoples long vanished is that they worship "the one true God?" Probably more than a few.

Parse religion strictly as a meme, an idea trying to survive by spreading from one brain to another, and what characteristics would be beneficial? Promising a reward that can't be disproven makes sense. Insinuating doom (that also can't be disproven) for disbelief seems like a pretty good choice too.

So, are core beliefs especially subject to Alexander Pope's recommendation on learning, "drink deeply, or not at all?" I don't think so. What is more critical than knowing a great deal about how the natural world really works is to understand that what is known was arrived at mostly by following the evidence wherever it led, even when what we found was not comforting, and revising our picture of reality when we achieved subsequent breakthroughs. Knowing vast amounts of detail is less important than knowing the central principle; an idea must be formulated such that we can prove it false, and if the idea survives repeated challenges we have solid evidence it's actually true. That's where we are in areas like atomic theory and the genetic code.

We also need to recognize that changing the details of what we know is normal, because we are still clarifying our picture of reality. We no longer have the perfect picture of reality we made up when all causes were opaque, but instead now have some details that are useful, that seem to reflect reality, and that we can continue building upon. The modern mindset requires some belief too, but it's a belief in following the evidence, and skepticism is just as important as belief.

They've been intentionally crippled since birth.

A lot of people still believe in gods in a cultural sense, but there are far fewer people who really believe the mythology now, and those tend to be in pockets of (usually willful) ignorance. Modern man is still capable of believing some pretty ridiculous things (bigfoot, aliens, Trekkies, etc), only now it requires willful ignorance.

Different reasons. It is hard to get away from what you have been indoctrinated to believe in and some people need hope.

If not out of dogma, I think people simply commit to faith out of tradition and/or a very natural desire for an answer to existentil horror.

I believe it works the same way we fall in love with the wrong people initially believing them be the one ! Only difference here is it's possible break-up and move on, but with God it's a million times tougher.

Fear of the unknown and death.

Many people are innately gullible. That seems like something that evolved to help us to stay in groups. But by not being constrained to facts or truth testing, religions can make up whatever kinds of stories that sound good to people. Religion will always have that advantage over truth.

Take a child and the time it is able to start putting words together, tell them myths that religion spouts....it's called brain washing. ..and when its done constantly, it takes alot to overcome. Many don't, and go on to perpetuate the evil

I don't know. I am thinking of writing a 3rd book called Why Do People Believe This Shit

I think the desire for many to have a better life doesn't meet expectations so they hang on to these fairytales to drag them through day to day. Willful ignorance I think also plays into it as well.

You got me!

If you can move away from the idea of the judgemental asshole in the sky...it's completely plausable. What if we are living inside another sentient organism, the universe.

Because they feel small and want to think they are not ultimately in control of their life. Organized religion remains to try to control the crowd and to extort money from them.

Trump's 35%-40% approval rate shows you that some people will believe anything even though they know they are being lied to! I view that as more of a mental deficiency than an actual chosen belief!

I still remember, as a child, being taught the song "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so". The next verse talked about how children especially are under his protection because "they are weak but he is strong". It would be very comforting to accept the message that there's a supernatural, omnipotent protector right now looking out for me. I think that's part of the answer; as Wilhelm Reich postulated, people often seem to desire a dictatorial protector to run their lives, and a God person would fulfill that role. However, I accept personal responsibility for my life, and I know that scientifically there is almost certainly no God. (I wouldn't mind a Goddess, though...)

My answer is that you can not disprove god. You can't disprove a negative. When it comes to default positions there are 3.
Something is true until proven false
Something is possible until proven true/false
Something is untrue unless proven true.
It's the same thing with big foot, people still believe in it.

People have a fear of death and the unknown. Religious beliefs(god) are passed down in a family and so brings comfort to those people. Believing in god is a crutch that some people must have to survive in this world. Which is really sad.

I know college educated people who believe the bible is factual .

It is a startling question. I for one cannot figure it out but then again who can figure out Trump supporters. Facts just loose their meaning when speaking to a mind that is chained up in a cage.

I think a large part of that may be from simple social and cultural influences or pressure.
Though I have contemplated on whether it could be a combination of Marcus's 3B framework in the formation of religious identity and some forms of Costly Display.
[religiousfreedomcenter.org]
[sciencedirect.com]

Because they are weak-minded people

Pretending to understand and force rules on "god" is not the same as believing in the possibility of a spiritual realm that exists beyond the earthly realm. The University of Virgina has done a great deal of research into reincarnation with scientific responsibility, if not at a laboratory level.