Scientific Study of Religion

Synthesizing Empirical Findings and Theory in the Scientific Study of Religion

The SEFT Project is an initiative to survey the work that’s been done in the scientific study of religion thus far — to step back and take a bird’s-eye view of what the field has accomplished, where it’s come from, and where it might go next.

Science on Religion

When and Why Do People Become Atheists? New Study Uncovers Important Predictors

The less that parents “walk the walk” about religious beliefs, the more likely their children are to walk away.

Big Think

Computer Modeling Religion

Recent computer models suggest that religious beliefs are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. What else could computers tell us about this deeply human phenomenon?

Living Lab Radio, WCAI

Should You Raise Your Kids Religious? Here’s What the Science Says

Does raising your child religious actually make them a better — or happier — person?

Quartz

Can Artificial Intelligence Predict Religious Violence?

The Modeling Religion Project already spawned several spin-off projects.

The Atlantic

Religion Is Uniquely Human, But Computer Simulations May Help Us Understand Religious Behavior

Can artificial intelligence accurately simulate people’s religious tendencies in the face of disaster and tragedy?

The Conversation

Did Human Sacrifice Help People Form Complex Societies?

The debate over how well ritual killings maintained social order.

The Atlantic

From Non-Religion to Unbelief? A Developing Field

The 21st century has witnessed growing academic and popular interest in a variety of categories which are related to ‘religion’ but conceptualized as ‘other’ — atheism, non-religion, secularity, religious indifference, and so on. Each of these categories can be conceptualized as aspects of the general category ‘unbelief.’

The Religious Studies Project

The Internet Has Made Americans More Casual About Religion

A recent study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion has found evidence that the more we use the Internet, the less likely we are to have a specific religious affiliation or to believe in and practice one religion exclusively.

Gizmodo

How the Brain’s Predictions Shape Religion

A cognitive process called predictive processing may be how the brain generates religious and spiritual experiences, according to a pair of neuroscientists.

Science on Religion

Supernatural Punishment and the Evolution of Cooperation

The key question the supernatural punishment hypothesis tries to answer is this: how could reliable human cooperation have evolved, since there’s always an incentive for individuals to cheat — that is, to benefit from others’ cooperation without cooperating in return?

Science on Religion

Would a Crumbling of Faith Really Make Humanity Less Moral?

If people figured out how to get along before religion, asks Frans de Waal, do we really need it?

Big Think

Atheists Should Embrace the Science of Religion

“Belief-ologists” are revealing how religion works. Belittling their work does nothing to further the secularists’ cause, but learning from it might.

New Scientist

A Scientist’s New Theory: Religion Was Key to Humans’ Social Evolution

In humans’ mysterious journey to become intelligent, socializing creatures like no other in the animal world, one innovation played an essential role: religion. That’s the theory that a preeminent evolutionary scientist is setting out to prove.

The Washington Post

Atheism, the Computer Model

Big data meets history to forecast the rise and fall of religion.

Nautilus

How to Grow a Virtual Religious Society

One of the reasons that religion is often hard to study is that it inspires people to behave in ways that are tough to predict. But if our models take into account the super-complex motivations that spring from sacred commitments, and the social dynamics that inspire them, we might be surprised at how much we learn.

The Huffington Post

How Can Computer Models Help Us Understand Religion?

We’re not just studying “cognition” or “behavior.” We’re studying some of the central questions about people’s fundamental motivations and cultural commitments. We won’t answer big questions about God, but we can produce insight into how religious beliefs motivate us and influence our relationships and societies.

The Huffington Post

If We Study Religion, Can We Actually Learn About It? Yes — Using Social Simulation

The Modeling Religion Project is testing social, cognitive, and evolutionary theories about why humans do religious things and believe in religious ideas.

The Huffington Post