Overview

This blog is a project for our Human Origins class during the spring semester of 2011. Our assigned topic is “Religion from an Evolutionary Perspective.” We will use this page to publish posts on that and related topics. We will use Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett. It will be used in the development of our blog and will guide its organization and direction. We will also use other sources.
Header Image: www.evolution-of-religion.com

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Concluding Thoughts


Over the course of the past semester, we have attempted to define religion and identify its origins. As humans tried to find purpose and meaning in the world they turned to the ethereal.

In our last post, we discussed animism and naturism, primitive forms of religion that early humans developed and that are still practiced today in some parts of the world. This idea that animals, as well as inanimate objects, have spirits transformed into the idea that humans also have spirits. In the beginning this human spirit was not much more super natural than you or I. Only later did this spirit develop omniscience and omnipotence. These qualities were simply outside of the “limits of imagination” according to Robert Wright (“The Evolution God: How Human Nature Gave Birth to Religion”). “They thought of God as occupying a single point in space and being unable to do two things at once...” (Wright). As the human mind developed and the first defined religions came into being, a more complicated notion of “God” began to develop.

The earliest form of “modern” religion took the form of Hinduism around 5,000 years ago. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam emerged later. Each of these religions offers different versions of a superior being or God.

After reflecting on our work, we have determined that religion is inevitable. Whether religion is monotheistic, polytheistic or even atheistic, a belief system is a fundamental part of human nature. The five major religions of the world resulted from religion’s status as a fundamental part of human nature.  

Despite world religious beliefs, one thing remains certain: humans must live in cooperation with one another. Evolutionary biology has provided evidence for cooperative efforts throughout our evolutionary histories. Whether religion spawns from evolution or is more culturally influenced, modern humans evolved as autonomous beings with each other and not against each other. Wright explains, “Thanks to reciprocal altruism, people are ‘designed’ to settle into mutually beneficial relationships with other people, people whom they can count on for things ranging from food to valuable gossip to social support, and who in turn can count on them.”

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