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Do Humans Have a ‘Religion Instinct’?
Topics: Andrew Newberg Belief Bonding Evolution of Religion Morality Religiosity Ritual Scientific Study of Religion Spirituality
How and Why Did Religion Evolve?
Topics: Animal Studies Bonding Emotion Empathy Evolution of Religion Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
Did Big Gods Come Before or After Big Societies?
Topics: Cooperation Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Morality Scientific Study of Religion
Computer Simulations for Studying Religion
Topics: Religiosity Scientific Study of Religion
From Non-Religion to Unbelief? A Developing Field
Topics: Atheism Belief Scientific Study of Religion
Is Your Society Good for (Biological) Fitness?
Remember that there are two major biological objectives in life, survival and reproduction.
Science on Religion
Topics: Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
Religious Experience and Homo Duplex
Where does religious experience come from? In a new article, Connor Wood combines Durkheim’s concept of Homo Duplex, Victor Turner’s concept of antistructure, and a healthy dose of contemporary social cognitive science to offer a new approach to this question.
Topics: Ritual Scientific Study of Religion Social Cognition
Why Religious Extremism is Maladaptive
To survive, religions must adapt and religious extremism impedes adaptive flexibility, although we currently have little understanding of how long extremist groups can endure in spite of their tendency to ossify social rules.
The Evolution Institute
Topics: Evolution of Religion Scientific Study of Religion
Extreme Rituals and Health: A Surprising Match
Participation in a bloody, dangerous, outrageously grueling religious ritual — at the height of the tropical summer, no less — somehow leads to more positive ratings on a measure that predicts all-around health with impressive accuracy.
Topics: Coping Resilience Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
Tradition and Innovation as Worldviews: Is Research into Religion a Fool’s Errand?
Rationalists and technocratic skeptics of religion have motivated reasons not to change their minds about the value of tradition or religion.
Topics: Scientific Study of Religion
Is Ritual a Tool for Resilience?
The relationship between religion, ritual, and cultural resilience.
Topics: Nature Religiosity Resilience Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
How to Do Interdisciplinary Work That Works
A colloquium on the scientific study of religion.
How to Have Productive Disagreements About Politics and Religion
Research suggests people intuitively draw a distinction between what is known and what is believed. Recognizing the difference can help in ideological disagreements.
The Conversation
Topics: Belief Cognition Scientific Study of Religion Social Cognition
Gods Are Everywhere Because It’s Hard to Bargain With Them
The cognitive similarities between institutional life and religion.
Topics: Cognition Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Imagination Religiosity Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
How to “Grow” Shamanism in a Computer Model
An agent-based model (ABM) computer simulation that explores why shamanism in some societies is mostly male-dominated, while in other societies shamans are mostly female.
The Human Brain Evolved to Believe in Gods
Humans are a believing bunch. And evolutionary anthropologists say that’s no miracle. The origins and ubiquity of religious beliefs can be explained by evolutionary theory.
The Crux, Discover
Topics: Cognition Cooperation Evolution of Religion 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.
Topics: Evolution of Religion Ritual Scientific Study of 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
Topics: Atheism Belief Religious Change Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
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
Topics: Atheism Religiosity Religious Change Scientific Study of Religion
Religion, Belief, and Social Connections
An interview with Jonathan Morgan and Connor Wood.
Sinai and Synapses
Topics: Belief Cognition Cooperation Religiosity Scientific Study of Religion
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
Topics: Atheism Azim Shariff Morality Religiosity Scientific Study of Religion Will Gervais
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?
Topics: Ritual Scientific Study of Religion
Cognitive Style, Religious Beliefs, and Individualism
People whose cognitive style is analytical or reflective are less likely to be religious than people who think more holistically or intuitively. Why? A new paper argues that the real factor is individualism.
Topics: Cognition Cooperation Religiosity Scientific Study of Religion
Did Human Sacrifice Help People Form Complex Societies?
The debate over how well ritual killings maintained social order.
Topics: Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Power Ritual Scientific Study of Religion Social Inequality Violence
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
Topics: Religiosity Religious Change Scientific Study of Religion Technology
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