Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'kinship'

Contra Deus ex Machina

July 30th, 2011 · 16 Comments · Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Morality

In Ars Poetica (“The Art of Poetry”), the great Roman lyricist Horace counsels against using gods to resolve thorny plots. The deus ex machina is simply too tidy and unbelievable. When gods swoop in to save the day, the mundane becomes sacred. Metaphysics to the rescue.

I was reminded of Horace’s enduring wisdom by two recent [...]

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Community & Kinship at Catalhoyuk

July 2nd, 2011 · 6 Comments · Archaeology, Ecology, Neolithic, Ritual

Strange things are afoot at Catalhoyuk (7400-5600 BCE), one of the earliest and most important Neolithic (i.e., sedentary and agricultural) sites known to archaeology. As I noted in Bones, Burials and Ancestors, mortuary practices at Catalhoyuk were unusual and often involved secondary burial in the floors of homes.

The assumption has always been that these were [...]

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Sizing Up Kinship: Larger Groups Win

March 16th, 2011 · 8 Comments · Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Hunter-Gatherers

There are a number of scholars who claim that “religion” evolved as an adaptation. What kind of adaptation? A group level adaptation. The story usually goes like this: at some unknown time during the middle or upper Paleolithic, certain groups of hominins developed proto-religious beliefs. These beliefs supposedly caused group members to dance, sing, and [...]

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Group Level Selection? The Non-Evolution of Religion

January 16th, 2011 · 15 Comments · Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Ritual

There are a number of scholars who claim that “religion” evolved as an adaptation.  What kind of adaptation? A group level adaptation. The story usually goes like this: at some unknown time during the middle or upper Paleolithic, certain groups of hominins developed proto-religious beliefs. These beliefs, which are rarely if ever specified, somehow gave [...]

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Is Belief in Gods Adaptive?

September 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Definitions, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

Over at NPR, Alix Spiegel presents a stimulating piece (which you can listen to or read) that asks: Is Believing in God Evolutionarily Advantageous? It seems to me that framing the question in this way suggests certain answers, all of which are neatly ensconced within Western and modern understandings of what constitutes “religion.”  The story’s [...]

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Genealogy of the “Traditional” Family

August 12th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Neolithic

Over at HuffPo Religion, John Whitehead has penned a high-minded piece taking Christians to task for failing to understand they are major contributors — given their high divorce rates — to the perceived breakdown of the “traditional” family.  I have bracketed “traditional” in the same manner that we should bracket “natural” — these are historical [...]

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Nationalism as Religion

July 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Civil Religion, Classifications, Cultural Evolution, Definitions, History, New Religions, Power, Ritual

In a previous post, Religious Wars and Nationalism, I discussed two factors that play a major role in group cohesion.  The first factor, which played a dominant role for the majority of human evolution, was extended and fictive kinship.  This is what primarily held groups together during the Paleolithic.  After the Neolithic Revolution, another factor [...]

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Religious Wars and Nationalism

July 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Economy, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Power

Over at HuffPo Religion, Matt Rossano has written a thought provoking piece — which some may find surprising — on the relationship between war and religion.   In Why Religion Does Not Equal War, Rossano begins with the common knowledge that religious differences often lead to war, or that religious differences are often used to justify [...]

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Non-Religious Chimpanzees Cooperate and War for Territory

June 28th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Economy, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Neolithic, Power, Shamanism

There have been many articles over the past week reporting that an unusually large group (150 members) of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda has been engaging in systematic territorial expansion by attacking and killing neighboring groups.  The Nature article notes that this is “cooperative behavior” and then quotes from the New York Times story:
These [...]

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