Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'fertility'

Spreading Leg Woman?

February 6th, 2011 · 4 Comments · Archaeology, Hunter-Gatherers, Ritual

Over at Discovery, Jennifer Viegas reports on an 11,000 year old piece of elk antler, found in Poland, that is incised with zigzags:

The artifact will be described in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. Polish archaeologist Tomasz Plonka talked to Viegas about the find:
“The ornament is composed of groups of zigzag lines [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:·····················

The Religion Gene (III)

January 29th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Atheism, Cultural Evolution, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation

In my first post on Robert Rowthorn’s paper “Fertility, Religion and Genes,” I focused on its faulty premises and unrealistic assumptions; I also substituted the word “love” for “religion” in Rowthorn’s argument to show that nearly any beneficial and complex human behavioral trait could be explained using the same single gene model. In my second [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:·················

The Religion Gene (II)

January 25th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Cognition, Definitions, Evolutionary Byproduct, Methodology

In his paper purporting to show that a beneficial, baby-making “religion gene” will sweep through a population and eventually make everyone religious, Robert Rowthorn ignores this inconvenient fact: nearly everyone in the world is already religious. Here is how it breaks down:

Because fifty percent of the “Non-Religious” group is theistic but not “religious,” we can [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:···················

The Religion Gene (I)

January 23rd, 2011 · 1 Comment · Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Methodology

Last week, an unfortunate paper appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, a leading academic journal. Its title is “Religion, Fertility and Genes: A Dual Inheritance Model” (open access). Despite being profoundly flawed in its premises and assumptions, the paper garnered major attention from the press. My local paper ran this headline: “Scientist: Religion [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:···················

Fertility Does Not Explain “Evolution of Religion”

January 14th, 2011 · 6 Comments · Definitions, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Hunter-Gatherers

We should thank Tom Rees over at Epiphenom for posting a much needed “rant on the evolution of religion.” What has Tom so worked up? The claim — first made by Michael Blume and now accepted by Jesse Bering — that “religion” evolved because it promotes fertility. Although the press loves the story, Tom correctly [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:·············

Making Religious Babies: A Cultural Phenomenon

October 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

As I noted in A Tale of Two Religion Scholars, Dr. Michael Blume’s research (which you can find at Homo religious) shows that religious groups out-reproduce their secular counterparts.  The data are solid and correspond to the commandments of most religions: “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Given that religious people make more babies than secular people, Blume [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:······················

A Tale of Two Religion Scholars & A Conversion

October 3rd, 2010 · 10 Comments · Atheism, Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct

This tale begins with Dr. Michael Blume, an evolutionary biologist who writes Homo religiosus — The Natural History of Religion.  His early studies focused on “neurotheology,” or the myriad ways in which naturally evolved aspects of brain-mind give rise to supernatural beliefs.  His current studies focus on the second pillar of evolutionary success — reproductive [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:·······················

The “Sin” of Sodomy and Demographic Imperatives

July 13th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Ecology, Economy, Evolutionary Adaptation, History, Morality, Power, Ritual

When attempting to determine whether something is “natural ” (vis-a-vis yesterday’s post on Catholicism and homosexuality) one good way of investigating the issue is to use the genealogical method.  So far as I can tell, there are no hunter-gatherer or pre-Neolithic societies that had taboos against homosexuality.  We can therefore trace the history of the [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:········································

Blood Atonement — Not Just a Mormon Thing

June 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, History, New Religions, Pagans, Ritual

Yesterday the State of Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner using a firing squad.  Why is Utah the only state that offers prisoners the option of a firing squad, which obviously results in lots of blood?
Although I have heard some rationalizations given by Utah officials that it is “faster and more humane” than other methods (which [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:············

Homo Religiosus, Religion, and Fertility: A Conversation with Michael Blume

June 4th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Cognition, Ecology, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

I recently found an excellent blog, Homo religiosus — The Natural History of Religion, written by the German scholar Dr. Michael Blume.  After I linked to his blog, Michael came over here for some reading.  He also had a question, which I answered, and he responded.  The issue we are discussing — higher fertility rates [...]

Share

[Read more →]

Tags:··················