Humans have an built-in tendency to see “agents” behind phenomena. This is hard-wired evolutionarily into our brains, as a survival mechanism: our cavemen ancestors were able to deal with a predatory beast more effectively by imputing agency to it, assuming it had a “plan”, namely to try and eat them.

It is this same adaptation that then causes man to imagine supernatural agents behind the weather, victories over neighboring tribes, winning the lottery, or human life and death.

Furthermore, the human brain has developed evolutionarily to best remember differences and exceptions and oddities. So oddities such as agent-deities who are humans but can fly, or animals who can talk, are easily retained within our individual and cultural memories.

Such is the theory developed by Scott Atran in In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion. I don’t recommend the book for a casual read; it’s pretty heavy going. But Atran has an incredibly detailed knowledge of both human religion and evolution, and the book is filled with great insights, if somewhat turgid in places.

I don’t believe Atran discusses my own theory about belief in the afterlife, which although commonly attributed to the human need to be comforted, is actually related to the rudimentary consciousness found even in animals that lets them imagine the existence of something that has gone out of their sight.

I personally would have preferred if Atran spent a bit more time looking at peak experiences and human growth patterns and telling us about their evolutionary bases.

In any case, this book provides a highly convincing explanation of why humans believe in religion. In his next book perhaps Atran can propose ways to wean our race off this illogical, counterproductive addiction.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 10th, 2004 at 17:37 and is filed under religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.