Science & the Big Questions

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

Do Humans Have a ‘Religion Instinct’?

Are spiritual beliefs an inevitable consequence of evolution?

BBC Future

Topics: Andrew Newberg Belief Bonding Evolution of Religion Morality Religiosity Ritual Scientific Study of Religion Spirituality

Did Big Gods Come Before or After Big Societies?

The whirling center of a scientific controversy.

Science on Religion

Topics: Cooperation Cultural Evolution Evolution of Religion Morality 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 and Why Did Religion Evolve?

Can the roots of spiritual behaviors and feelings be found in other animals?

BBC Future

Topics: Animal Studies Bonding Emotion Empathy Evolution of Religion 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

Computer Simulations for Studying Religion

Can computers study complex human phenomena? Wesley Wildman, professor of philosophy, theology, and ethics at the Boston University School of Theology, delves into this question.

The Academic Minute

Topics: Religiosity 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

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

Topics: Atheism Belief Scientific Study of Religion