Wk 11 - Religion

Question 1

Two definitions of religion are…

Answer 1

Belief that highest good is defined by unseen order + symbols that assist harmonious living with this order, and emotional commitment to such harmony
Unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things that unite into one single moral community all those who adhere to them

Question 2

The supernatural is…(x1)
Belief in supernatural beliefs is…(x1)
And tends to…(x1)

Answer 2

Anything not bound by laws of nature, or which is figuratively/literally above or beyond the natural
Universal - religion is too, and even culture that has no formal religion has hodgepodge of supernatural beliefs
Age, rather than decrease

Question 3

The difference between supernatural beliefs and religion is…(x3)

Answer 3

Religion is systematic, elements interdependent, influence on lives is pervasive
Supernatural beliefs can relate to highest good, unseen order, symbols, ordering of lives, emotional commitments - but can’t do all these all of the time
While religion can

Question 4

Rates of religious beliefs in Australia…(x3)

Answer 4

70% are in some kind of Christian religion
3% Islamic
22% claim no religion

Question 5

Rates of religious beliefs globally, as at 2010

Answer 5

31.5% Christian
23.2% Muslim
Only 16.3% unaffiliated

Question 6

Geographic spread of religions…(x4)

Answer 6

Christians everywhere but North Africa and Middle East (Muslim), and
Asia (Hindu, Buddhist)
China apparently non-religious (?)
Most people live in area dominated by own religion - geographic delineation

Question 7

Even within our classroom, religious beliefs run at…(x3)

Answer 7

About 1/6 highly certain of belief in god/’s authority
Rest evenly split between some kind of god/ethical governance and
‘No personal divinity’

Question 8

Relationship between religion and cumulative culture…(x3)

Answer 8

Religion is ubiquitous, affects all aspects of past and present - we are predisposed to religiosity
Historically, religious and secular concerns were inseparable - religion is culture, and vice versa
Past coupla hundred yrs, some societies recognise capacity for good without god - religion as subculture

Question 9

How religion ties in to the factors that contribute to cumulative culture…(x3)
And so, the importance is highlighted of…(x4)

Answer 9

Capacity/tendency for hi-fi copying - exploited by Ritual, possibly informed by overimitation
Social motivation/population dynamics - group belonging/coherence, moral governance, adaptive cooperation
Childhood - indoctrination, inculcation (repeated teaching), vertical and oblique transmission (not horizontal, as you can’t work religion out from first principles)
Grandmothers, childhood, pedagogy, pretence

Question 10

What is ritual? (x5)

Answer 10

The lynchpin of religion, lots in common with overimitation
Characterised by formality, exaggerated, stylized and/or redundant gestures, goal demotion, causal opacity, rigid performance, repetition
Culturally universal
Religious, but secular too
Typically performed collectively - synchronised movement, noise-making, emotional experience

Question 11

What does ritual do for religion? (x6)

Answer 11

Transmit and reinforce social norms and values
Signal commitment to group values, and, the group the values belong to
Social cohesion, prosociality and cooperation (solve collective action problems)
Generate emotional experiences attributable to, or in the service of, the belief - eg the ‘rapture’
‘Remind’ individuals of their moral obligation to group/society - even atheists
To indoctrinate

Question 12

In what ways are non-/human rituals more similar than different? (x7)

Answer 12

Formality in dress and conduct - must display appropriately,
Specific/Exaggerated/Stylized movements,
Communality - done for and with con-specifics,
Common focus/goal,
Rhythm (well, it is music),
Dancing (movement),
Emotional Emphasis - you know what you will feel

Question 13

Signalling Theory refers to…(x3)

Answer 13

Actions/structures that increase fitness of individual by altering behaviour of other organisms, and
That has evolved because of that effect, and
Is effective because receiver’s response has also evolved

Question 14

Under signalling theory, a signal is…(x4)

Answer 14

Any trait which has no effect on bearer’s base fitness (f-componnent)
Except/unless it has the effect of changing the information held by others (the recipients of the behaviour).
This changed info then leads to corresponding behavioural change, leading to
Increase in bearer’s s-component - fitness due to social interactions)

Question 15

Information change is an important concept in signalling theory because…(x2)

Answer 15

In most animals, they don’t need to keep the info,

But humans need/have capacity to track reputations, deal with past info in future

Question 16

Applying signalling theory to rituals gives us…(x2 plus explain/egs)

Answer 16

Imagistic rituals - high arousal/low frequency, eg rites of passage, that show group membership by public paying of costs, eg tattoos, scars
Doctrinal rituals - low arousal/high frequency, eg daily prayer, that publicly show commitment to values of/group

Question 17

When researching imagistic rituals/signals, Sosis (2007) found that…(x4)

Answer 17

Signals are made in very particular way
Where risk of warfare was highest from external sources, get the most hardcore signals
Argue the threat of defection was so high, you permanently mark them – pay the personal cost very publicly, and also cost for future opportunities
When threat of war from within, face paint etc more common- need to be able to shift group

Question 18

Research into the effect of rituals on the longevity of religious and secular communes showed that…(x2)

Answer 18

In religious communes: As rituals increased in frequency and demandingness, so did longevity of commune
Not so for secular ones – no relationship between factors; speculate that the rituals didn’t become cohesive system and hold group together

Question 19

Under signalling theory, (costly) ritual signals arguably solve a number of problems…(x3)

Answer 19

Determining group belongingess (since non-group members may not know the signals, nor be willing to incur the [ongoing] cost) 
Act as a diagnostic tool for commitment to values, which indicates status of invisible qualities - eg performing rituals of group that values generosity = viewed as generous
Prevents freeloaders (within the religion) from reaping benefits without contribution

Question 20

CREDs largely means that…(x1)

And is a way of interpreting the impacts of ritual in that…(x2)

Answer 20

Actions speak louder than words
Cultural learners can avoid manipulation/accurately assess own commitment by attending to models displays/actions that differ from those expressed verbally; and
Should look for displays that are consistent with expressions, including symbolic expressions

Question 21

The ‘Ritual Stance’ is …(x3)

Answer 21

A normative explanation of ritual
That we employ rationale for interpreting causally opaque and unknowable as normative and socially relevant/prescriptive
ie, we interpret people’s behaviour as the norm for that situation

Question 22

Ruffle and Sosis conducted study into cooperation and religious rituals, involving…(x5)
Finding…(x2)

Answer 22

Israeli Kibbutzim - collective farming/business/industry, with equal distribution of income
Can be religious or secular
Religious ones, males have higher, public ritual demand, than women (private rituals)
Cooperation/trust in partner game - if both Ps take low amount from kitty, remainder is x1.5 and equally shared
So, pays individual to cheat…
Ritual men take less, and trust others more, than all other groups
Evidence that ritual facilitates the difference

Question 23

Fisher et al (2013) conducted study into commitment to ritual, sacred values and prosociality, involving…(x3)
Finding…(x1)
Concluding..(x1)

Answer 23

Ps in exact synchrony (yoga, chanting), complementary synchrony (capoiera, church service), no synchrony (jogging, poker) conditions
Economics game - put up to $5 in kitty, gets doubled and distributed;
ie, individual does better with lower contribution, group does better with high
Order of low-highest contributions: no, complimentary, exact
Synchrony signals commitment to group beliefs, which in turn manifests as behaviour

Question 24

Schjodt et al (2013) proposed a cognitive model for religious transmission/indoctrination that argued…(x6)
eg (x1)

Answer 24

For ‘cognitive resource depletion in religious interactions’
Demand for appropriate expression of emotion
Plus exposure to goal-demoted/causally opaque actions, and
The presence of a charismatic authority (turns off critical faculties)
ie stoic in the face of pain, not laughing at funerals, is cognitively demanding, and you fail to code memories well
Leaves a gap, then group fills the gap with cultural stories and explanations
Eg fire walkers don’t recall the actual experience, but what they were told afterwards

Question 25

Four factors of developmental foundations of religion

Answer 25

ToM and false belief
Intuitive dualism
Teleological reasoning
Hyperactive agency detection device (HADD)

Question 26

Research into ToM and religion/supernatural agents/forces has shown that…(x4)

Answer 26

Kids that fail false belief with humans, fail it with all agents
Those who pass with humans, attribute knowledge that is suitable to the mind being considered
Eg can infer contents of gods mind consistent with their knowledge of gods omniscience
Masters know more than us, bees/dogs not so much

Question 27

Dualism is the belief that…(x2)

Answer 27

The stuff of thought is different to the stuff of matter

ie the mind is not the brain, it is something else

Question 28

Research into kids and dualism involved…(x2)
Finding…(x2)
Concluding…(x1)

Answer 28

Hamster 1 - kids told it had blue heart, had swallowed marble, chipped tooth, kids whispered name into ear/played with it - forming memories
Identical ‘Hamster 2’ brought out
2/3 kids say the physical stuff it has are the same,
But only 40% thought it had same memories
Kids think if you clone something, stuff of thought is not copied - dualism

Question 29

Teleological reasoning is…(x1 plus egs x2)

And shows patterns in kids/adults that…(x2)

Answer 29

The tendency to believe things exist to serve a purpose
e.g., trees are for making wind, clouds are for making rain, ears are for hearing
Western up to 7-8yo say all things are for something - mountains are for climbing
Adults do so less for non-biological, but still at high rates for biological, and artefacts

Question 30

Supernatural reasoning becomes explicable when we know that humans are likely to…(x4)

Answer 30

Attribute purpose to objects/organisms
Know that thought exists independently of stuff, and
Infer the content of another’s mind
Attribute agency to pretty much all biological things

Question 31

Our agency detection device is posited to contribute to supernatural/religious beliefs in that…(x3)

Answer 31

It’s hyperactive -
Counterfactual and counterintuitive beliefs trigger naturally selected agency detection system, which responds to fragmentary info, leading to eg
Perceptions of figures in the shadows, eliciting dread and awe

Question 32

Two models of religion are…

But explanation may in fact…

Answer 32

Cognitive by-product
Selectionist
Not be a dichotomy - instead, by-product as allowing the origin/emergence, selection growing it over time

Question 33

The cognitive by-product model of religion holds that…(x5)

Which is analogous to…(x1)

Answer 33

Religion is inevitable given the combination of human faculties:
Cognitive mechanisms - eg agency concepts
Learning heuristics - emulation of successful/prestigious
Beneficial ritual displays
Cultural selection of such packages that sustain ingroup prosocial norms
Ants building a mound - its’s not the goal, but all have the same faculties, so mound is the inevitable by-product

Question 34

Selectionist models of religion hold that…(x4)

Answer 34

Cultural group selection means that
Religion is everywhere, because my group has it and we cooperate more
Other group isn’t, cooperate slightly less
On evolutionary scale, religious groups outcompete those without