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 [...]
Tags:altruism·baboons·chimpanzees·cohesion·competition·cooperation·David Sloan Wilson·ecology·evolution of religion·foraging unit·group agonism·group level selection·group size·hominids·hominins·hunter-gatherers·inclusive fitness·intergroup competition·Joseph Bulbulia·kinship·language·Matt Rossano·Nicholas Wade·Paleolithic·primates·Richard Sosis·ritual·technology·tools
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 [...]
Tags:differential fitness·evolution of religion·fertility·historical error·hunter-gatherers·Jesse Bering·Jonathan Leake·logical fallacy·Michael Blume·Nick Spencer·Paleolithic·reproduction·social construction·Tom Rees
“Prepare to believe”! This is the injunction found underneath the Creation Museum’s logo, helpfully reminding us that credulity is more important than fact. What are we supposed to believe? That the biblical creation story is literally true and explains everything:
The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its [...]
Tags:Abraham·Adam·Answers in Genesis·Ark Encounter·Bedrock City·biblical literalism·Brontosaurus ribs·Christians·creation·Creation Museum·creationists·Custer·dinosaurs·Eve·evolution·Flintstones·Garden of Eden·incest·Muslims·Noah's ark·Paleolithic·separation of church and state·South Dakota·theme park·Tower of Babel·young earth
Yet another study has been published which demonstrates that the placebo effect is real and powerful. But the difference in this study is it did not involve deception — the patients were told they were being given a placebo and still had improved health effects!
In “Placebo Effects and Shamanic Healing,” I explored the connection between [...]
Tags:illusions·outcomes·Paleolithic·placebo·placebo effect·Placebos without Deception·Rick James·shamanic healing·Ted Kaptchuk
There has been much chatter over the past few weeks about what appears to be a general lack of religious knowledge among Americans. Although I have not seen any surveys or studies from outside the United States, I think it safe to say this ignorance is not limited to America — it most likely is [...]
Tags:brain-mind·Breaking the Spell·curriculum·Daniel Dennett·Diane Winston·hunter-gatherers·metaphysics·neolithic·Paleolithic·Purpose Driven Life·religious ignorance·religious knowledge·religious naturalism·Rick Warren·shamanisms·social construction·supernaturalism·truth·truth correspondence
As Nicholas Wade reports, the prominent evolutionary theorist George Williams recently died. It is somehow fitting that Wade, who tells group level selection stories about the evolution of religion in his book The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved & Why It Endures, should write Williams’ obituary. Although Williams’ interests were broad, he is best known [...]
Tags:Adaptation and Natural Selection·Darwin's Cathedral·David Sloan Wilson·gene level selection·George Williams·group level selection·Matt Rossano·multilevel selection·neolithic·Nicholas Wade·Paleolithic·Richard Dawkins·Stephen Jay Gould·the evolution of religion·The Faith Instinct·The Selfish Gene
Over at Discover, Razib Khan has reviewed Oren Harman’s new book The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness. It is fantastic review and I encourage you to read it. Price was many things, including a theoretical evolutionary biologist with considerable mathematical skills. As Razib explains:
George Price’s aim was [...]
Tags:altruism·cooperation·dove·evolution of religion·evolutionary theory·Fisher's theorem of natural selection·George Price·goodness·group level selection·group level selectionists·hawk·inclusive fitness·morphs·Oren Harman·Paleolithic·Razib Khan·Richard Dawkins·The Price of Altruism
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 [...]
Tags:Benedict Anderson·Blood Sacrifice and the Nation: Revisiting Civil Religion·Carolyn Marvin·Civil Religion·David Ingle·Durkheim·group cohesion·group identity·group level selection·guardians of faith·high priests·hymnals·Imagined Communities·kinship·liturgy·nationalism·Neolithic Revolution·Paleolithic·patriotism·patriots·religion·religiosity·religious violence·ritual leaders·ritual objects·Robert Bellah·sacred places·sacred texts·saints·temples·totemism·totems
