The Evolution of Religion

bernee51 · Post by **bernee51** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:24 pm

Is religion a response to 'god' or is it an evolutionary necessity?

In this article anthropologist Barbara J. King uses her studies our primate cousins to help explain the development religious belief

A snippet...

What kinds of behavior do you see in the great apes that show us how religion evolved?

I look at four different kinds of behavior -- meaning-making, imagination, empathy and following the rules. Together, I think they give us a sense of what religion might have started out to be. The apes have bits and pieces of all these four things, but not in a coherent pattern that adds up to religious behavior. To my mind, apes are conscious beings and they do these four things in incredibly fascinating ways.

Religion gives meaning to many, can encourage empathy, asks that we follow the rules and certainly has stimulated the imagination.

Did we evolve to be religious? Or did we evolve because of thes basic traits of religious belief?

Cathar1950 · Post by **Cathar1950** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:57 pm

I don't know if I would say "evolutionary necessity". I think I would call it an evolutionary expression and example.
The fun part about evolution is that the product doesn't have to be perfect to work just continue and that could happen do to no fault in the organism except mortality. It maybe discarded on either a social or personal level and no great harm because any need it met would still be met somehow or of course it wouldn't continue. But it could also not meet a need and continue for accidental reasons. I love looking at the evolution of religion.
It would be interesting if there was a God gene. Would the mutation be a either having it or not having it destroy the bases of religion that is personal?

Your religious because you got that gene or your not religious because you don't have it. Or even the other way around.
All religious thoughts aside.
Which would be the correct way to be??
This idea has a lot of potential, maybe.

bernee51 · Post by **bernee51** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:21 pm

Cathar1950 wrote:I don't know if I would say "evolutionary necessity". I think I would call it an evolutionary expression and example.

A 'necessity' in that without the evolution of systems of belief our species would not have developed the complex societies that have in themselves evolved.

Cathar1950 wrote: The fun part about evolution is that the product doesn't have to be perfect to work...

Exactly. Is there a 'perfect' religion? Or do religions that claim to be 'the only way' also claim 'perfection'?

Cathar1950 · Post by **Cathar1950** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:55 pm

A 'necessity' in that without the evolution of systems of belief our species would not have developed the complex societies that have in themselves evolved.

I see what you mean.
I am still reading the article.
Complex societies are a byproduct of religious behavior while religious behavior would be a byproduct od complex relationships of various attributes or behaviours as she describes them in the apes.

Let me focus and finish the reading.
I know what she is getting at even if ithink there are more complex relationships happening including religious histories. She is talking about the desire to explain and make sense. I like her approach. I like Armstrong and Dawkins too.

QED · Post by **QED** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:10 am

I've recently taken an interest in hyper-rationality which is arguably a mental disorder. In a nutshell, it takes a certain amount of faith to get us though the day. Example: Driving an automobile at 60MPH 4 feet away from an oncoming automobile also traveling at 60MPH. Here our peace of mind depends on our faith in countless mechanical and biological components all doing what we trust them to do.

Faith is in this sense a welcome short-cut that enables us to function. Without it we are reduced to constant checking and re-checking. Evolution therefore demands elaborate systems of faith at all levels of cognition. I think we can attribute our predisposition to religion to this essential survival mechanism.

Cathar1950 · Post by **Cathar1950** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:22 am

QED wrote:I've recently taken an interest in hyper-rationality which is arguably a mental disorder. In a nutshell, it takes a certain amount of faith to get us though the day. Example: Driving an automobile at 60MPH 4 feet away from an oncoming automobile also traveling at 60MPH. Here our peace of mind depends on our faith in countless mechanical and biological components all doing what we trust them to do.

Faith is in this sense a welcome short-cut that enables us to function. Without it we are reduced to constant checking and re-checking. Evolution therefore demands elaborate systems of faith at all levels of cognition. I think we can attribute our predisposition to religion to this essential survival mechanism.

I can see that. Religion could arise just to explain why we do things with out thinking about them.

Furrowed Brow · Post by **Furrowed Brow** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:30 am

QED wrote:I've recently taken an interest in hyper-rationality which is arguably a mental disorder. In a nutshell, it takes a certain amount of faith to get us though the day. Example: Driving an automobile at 60MPH 4 feet away from an oncoming automobile also traveling at 60MPH. Here our peace of mind depends on our faith in countless mechanical and biological components all doing what we trust them to do.

Is that faith? Or ir that just not thinking about or being conscious of what could go wrong. A lack of imagination rather than faith.