Biological and Evolutionary Foundations of Religion Flashcards
Is religion heritable?
Yes, 0.3-0.45 (Bouchard, 2004; Lewis and Bates, 2013)
Lewis and Bates (2013) - Not heritability
Community integration and existential uncertainty closely related to religiosity
Ramachandran and Blakeslee (1998)
Temporal love epilepsy is associated with high religiosity, patients with TLE have high emotional responses to religious stimuli. Magnetic stimulation of the temporal lobe invokes mystical experience
Newberg et al (2003)
Used SPECT imaging to find that the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes are associated with meditation and prayer
Borg et al (2003)
Using a PET scan, serotonin was linked to self-transcendence
Beauregard et al (2006)
Using fMRI scan, RM orbitofrontal cortex was associated with prayer
Schjoedt et al (2009)
Using fMRI, social cognition is associated with prayer
Kapogiannia et al (2009)
Using MRI, RM temporal orbitofrontal R Precuneus is associated with intimacy, fear and doubt
Limitations of biological studies into religion
- Difficult to evoke religious experience in imaging settings – Measurement problems
- Often descriptive – interpretations and conclusions are speculative
- Reductionism
Naturalness of Religion-Thesis (Barret, 2000)
Brought together:
* Cognitive Science
* Evolutionary Psychology
* Cognitive Anthropology
* Neurobiology
* Cognitive Neuroscience
Methodological Naturalism
We didn’t have consistent interactions with a god, so we started looking for beliefs in those gods elsewhere. It could be a systematic error that negatively impacts our fitness. Therefore religion is costly.
Universals of religion (Atran, 2004)
- Widespread belief in supernatural agents
- Costly commitments to supernatural agents
- Mastering of existential anxieties by SNA
- Ritualised co-ordination
“Religion is a community’s costly and hard-to fake commitment to a counterfactual and counterintuitive world for supernatural agents who master people’ existential anxieties, such as death and deception.”
Religion as an adaption
Those who were religious were selected for fitness benefits as it encourages group living and co-operation.
Policing for co-operation is costly so there are benefits in using supernatural to persuade people to co-operate.
Bateson (2006)
Found that people were more likely to co-operate if they were being watched. Religion acts like a mental version of eyes watching you. This could be why we evolved a god-figure to encourage good behaviour
Prisoners Dilemma (Bulbilia, 2004)
Researchers gave participants prison sentences for two individuals and asks them which sentence is better. If supernatural consequences were added (heaven/hell), it increased co-operation.
Shariff and Norenzayan (2007)
God concepts increase co-operation
Sosis and Ruffle (2004)
Religious Kibbutzim more cooperative than secular ones
Sosis (2000; 2003)
Religious communes with costly requirements survive longer
Ernste (2007) and Blume (2009)
There is a correlation between worship attendance and number of children
Why could religion be a by-product of another evolution?
Most adaptions are just a by-product of other adaptions, due to:
* Intuitive ontologies
* Folkbiology
* Folkpsychology ( Social Cognition)
* Attachment
* Intergroup bias
* Kin selection
* Power and status
Other names for social intelligence
- Machiavellian Intelligence
- Theory of Mind - TOM and Religious Beliefs (Barrett, 2004)
- Animism as extension of Social Intelligence (Charlton, 2001)
Bering (2004)
Existential Theory of Mind - “to allow individuals to attribute meaning to certain classes of autobiographical experiences”
Emerges from theory of mind, but is an independent system
Princess Alice studies (Bering and Parker, 2006)
- Guessing game – have to guess which box has the ball
- 2 Conditions: No info about Princess Alice (supernatural being) vs Info about Princess Alice.
- Those told about Alice were told Alice would help them with the guess.
- During trial, event happens (light switch, picture falls)
- Do children change their choice of box?
Conclusion of Princess Alice study
Inferring meaning in natural events requires ‘cultural’ primer. Those that didn’t develop theory of mind didn’t change their choice.
