Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'proto-religion'

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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Proto-Religious Foragers v. Non-Religious Foragers

February 9th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Archaeology, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Hunter-Gatherers

In a recent post on group level selection and the evolution of religion, I observed that if we assume such selection was operating on human groups during the Paleolithic, three factors play a major role in determining which groups come out on top. These three factors are: (1) group size, (2) technology, and (3) language. [...]

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Religion Reduces Anxiety — Sound Familiar?

August 3rd, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, Cognition, Emotions, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Ritual

“Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.  Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the [...]

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