Science & the Big Questions

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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

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How and Why Did Religion Evolve?

Topics: Animal Studies Bonding Emotion Empathy Evolution of Religion Ritual Scientific Study of Religion

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Did Big Gods Come Before or After Big Societies?

Topics: Cooperation Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Morality Scientific Study of Religion

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Computer Simulations for Studying Religion

Topics: Religiosity Scientific Study of Religion

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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

Religions as Complex Adaptive Systems

Looking at religions as a complex adaptive systems helps make sense of both their persistent cross-cultural similarities and their widely varying differences.

Science on Religion

Topics: Cooperation Evolution of Religion Religious Groups 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.

Science on Religion

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.

Science on Religion

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.

Science on Religion

Topics: Scientific Study of Religion

Is Ritual a Tool for Resilience?

The relationship between religion, ritual, and cultural resilience.

Science on Religion

Topics: Nature Religiosity Resilience Ritual Scientific Study of Religion

How to Do Interdisciplinary Work That Works

A colloquium on the scientific study of religion.

Science on Religion

Topics: Evolution of Religion 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.

Science on 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.

Science on Religion

Topics: Evolution of Religion Scientific Study of Religion

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.

Science on Religion

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

Topics: Atheism Religiosity Religious Change Scientific Study of Religion

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

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.

Science on Religion

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.

The Atlantic

Topics: Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Power Ritual Scientific Study of Religion Social Inequality Violence