Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'David Lewis-Williams'

Astronomy & Paleolithic Cave Paintings

August 23rd, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Hunter-Gatherers and Religion, Shamans and Shamanism

Over at Seed, Holly Capelo provides a helpful survey of the various ways in which the famous Upper Paleolithic cave paintings — found primarily in France and Spain — have been interpreted over the last several decades.  The occasion for her survey, which strangely omits mention of David Lewis-Williams’ contention that the paintings were the [...]

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Is “Quantum Consciousness” the Essence of “Spirituality”?

August 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Classifications of Religion, Cognition and Religion, Definitions of Religion, Methodology of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Shamans and Shamanism

In “Quantum Consciousness: The Way to Reconcile Science and Spirituality,” Kingsley Dennis elegantly discusses what has proven to the most intractable issue in neuroscience: consciousness.  Because fluctuations and altered states of consciousness are so often linked to the supernatural-religious, I have examined it in many posts, including Consciousness and the Supernatural, which provides a brief [...]

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Hospital Hallucinations — Consciousness and the Otherwordly

June 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct, Shamans and Shamanism

In a previous post, Consciousness and the Supernatural, I discussed at some length David Lewis-Williams’ contention that supernatural thinking arises naturally from fluctuations of consciousness.  These fluctuations range from normal (dreaming) to periodic (reveries) to pathological (delusions).  Deliberately induced — and dramatic — altered states of consciousness are of course a specialty of shamans around [...]

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What is “Spirituality”?

June 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Classifications of Religion, Cognition and Religion, Definitions of Religion, Emotions and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

Over at HuffPo Religion, Kate Fridkis ponders the protean term “spirituality” and reasonably wonders what it means.  It is pretty common these days to hear someone say they are not religious but instead are “spiritual.”  When asked what they mean by this, the response often involves  some combination of the following words: peace, harmony, bliss, [...]

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Multiple Brain Regions-Functions Result in Supernatural Thinking

May 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition and Religion, Emotions and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

Recently, I came across the claim — supported by numerous lines of study and evidence — that the natural development or ontogeny or language is similar to the natural development of supernatural thinking.  At quite an early age, children exposed to language will effortlessly begin acquiring and using the many skills which result in linguistic [...]

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Consciousness and The Supernatural

May 21st, 2010 · 1 Comment · Archaeology and Religion, Cognition and Religion, Evolution and Selection, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

A few months ago, the cognitive archaeologist David Lewis-Williams published Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion.  When I saw the title, I worried that perhaps I had been scooped.  Now that I have nearly finished the book, my worry has passed.  Lewis-Williams’ title is a bit deceiving, given that the book combines [...]

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New Hominid Species and “The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion”

April 9th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Cognition and Religion, Evolution and Selection, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

You would have to be living on a deserted island not to know that yet another transitional hominid fossil was unveiled yesterday.  The new species, dated to approximately 2 million years ago, has been named Australopithecus sediba.
Just as evolutionary theory predicts for this period in time, these new fossils have some traits that are more [...]

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New Interpretation of Rock Art Symbols

March 3rd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Archaeology and Religion

David Lewis-Williams, Professor of Cognitive Archaeology at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, has for decades studied Paleolithic rock art across the world.  His scholarly output has been not only been prodigious, but also provocative.  Because rock art constitutes some of the oldest evidence we have for symbolic thinking, its importance to understanding Paleolithic [...]

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