I found this one on the Gene Expression blog. Does religion confer evolutionary advantage?
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10875666
The Science of Religion-recent Economist Article
by BurnTheShips 38 Replies latest jw friends
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Awakened07
Thanks. Well, the article pretty much says it all, so there's not much room for my comment. I've thought this ever since I started accepting evolution; that religion (among other things) must have an evolutionary advantage. It can be as basic as - on a large population level - that a belief in an afterlife as a reward for good behavior will both make one behave better towards others (especially within the group), which will benefit the group, and also that the same belief gives one more strength to carry on through life's hard struggles. And those two are just a tip of the iceberg (more examples in the article). In fact, if one accepts evolution; how can faith not be an advantageous meme?
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hamilcarr
You may like it or not, but because evolution has allowed for 7 million preaching witnesses, even the Watch Tower must have an evolutionary advantage. Maybe a member of the Governing Body had to be put into the scanner --- new scientific grounds to be developed.
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funkyderek
This thread is such a waste of time!
Just kidding, Burn
A good article. A couple of things that are important to note. Just because religion may be useful that doesn't make it true. And perhaps more importantly, traits that conferred a survival advantage in the past may not do so in the future.
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel Dennett covers some of the issues discussed here.
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R.Crusoe
Fascinating Stuff!
I wonder if, knowing how in control one can be of large groups via 'invisible powers' or 'divine knowledge', the evolution science and of religion were not highly likely preserves of human evolution ? That is to say, unless one were not a follower of large groups of humans who enjoyed the support of the masses, one were likely to be overthrown and wiped out by them, thus preserving their philosophies and beliefs through successive generations!
And so today we have beliefs which have successfully evolved as 'parasites' of group belief via humans best placed for surviving.
A sort of evolution of what can be shown to exist alongside an evolution of what cannot!
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DanTheMan
Interesting article, thanks for sharing.
That quip, though, makes an intriguing point. Evolutionary biologists tend to be atheists, and most would be surprised if the scientific investigation of religion did not end up supporting their point of view. But if a propensity to religious behaviour really is an evolved trait, then they have talked themselves into a position where they cannot benefit from it, much as a sceptic cannot benefit from the placebo effect of homeopathy. Maybe, therefore, it is God who will have the last laugh after all—whether He actually exists or not.
It really does bum me out a little that because of my experiences, I could never be a religious person again. There are benefits that religion confers that you just can't get anywhere else - the intoxicating sense of purpose & cameraderie being two that were probably at the top of the list of what I (unconsciously) found so appealing about the dubs.
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BurnTheShips
A good article. A couple of things that are important to note. Just because religion may be useful that doesn't make it true .
I think it was you (maybe not) that once asserted that our mental sense and perception map to reality because if they didn't we would be unfit to survive in the environment.
Burn
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R.Crusoe
Dan the man - as a youth you may have had more than just cameraderie if you were frotunate enough to be in demand by the worlds most attractive pron stars but it doesn't necessarily mean god is on your side!
Though how, in that situation, could you not feel he was?
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SacrificialLoon
One thing the article didn't touch on that I think would be interesting is to compare the birth rates of religious vs. non/not so religious people. It seems to be the case that birthrates among religious people is higher.
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funkyderek
BurnTheShips:
I think it was you (maybe not) that once asserted that our mental sense and perception map to reality because if they didn't we would be unfit to survive in the environment.
Possibly it was. However, if I didn't qualify that with various caveats, then I should have. We can only ever perceive an approximation of reality, which will usually be just as good as it needs to be and no better.