How and Why Religion DevelopedDavid S. Alkek, MD

The Spiritual Brain

Some definitions of religion• Human recognition of a superhuman controlling power and especially of a

personal God entitled to obedience. (Oxford Dictionary)• Any specific system of belief and worship often involving a code of ethics and a

philosophy. (Webster's New World Dictionary)• A system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes

concerning an object, person, unseen being or system of thought considered to be supernatural. sacred, divine, or brightest truth, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions, traditions and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought. (Wikipedia)

• A religion is : (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivation seem uniquely realistic. (Clifford Geertz)

• A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them. (Emile Durkheim)

Components commonly attributed to religions

• Belief in the supernatural• Shared membership in a social movement• Costly and visible proof of commitment• Practical rules for behavior (morality)• Belief that supernatural forces can be

influenced to intervene in worldly life (prayer and sacrifice)

Scientific approaches to why religion developed

• The functional or adaptive approach• Evolutionary psychology approach• Search for causal explanations

The search for causal explanations• The brain seeks cause or agency to anticipate

danger for survival• Agency attributed to ourselves, other people,

animals, material objects, unseen spirits• Explanation of consequences for our behavior• Explanation of illness• Causal explanation for events for which

science has no answers • Religion as a by-product of the brain’s search

for causal explanations and making predictions

Paleontological evidence of religion

• Cave paintings• Shamanism• Neolithic and modern rituals• Homo religiosus

Precursors to development of religion

• Art• Dance• Ritual• Myth• Neuroscientific Basis

Development of social units and religion

• Band A few dozen individuals belonging to one or several

extended families• Tribe

Hundreds of individuals, dozens of families, divided into clans

• ChiefdomThousands of individuals in sedentary villages

• State Up to one or several million, multi-ethnic societies

Characteristics of the Band• A few dozen, one or several extended families• Nomadic hunter-gatherers or garden farmers• Everyone knows everyone else well• Group decisions reached face-to-face• No formal political leadership• No economic specialization• Egalitarian and democratic• Members differ little in wealth, few possessions• No religious organization• Most humans lived this way until about 11,000 years ago

Characteristics of the Tribe

• Hundreds of individuals, dozens of families, divided into clans• Requires more food so usually farmers or herders , or both• In sedentary villages near their food supply• Like band in being egalitarian, no economic specialization and face-to-face decision making• Some have a “big man” who functions as leader by his power of

persuasion and personality, not any authority• No organized religion but there may be shamans who help heal They also must provide their own food

Characteristics of the Chiefdom• Contains thousands of people• Requires higher food production to store food surpluses to feed non-food

producing specialists• Sedentary villages and hamlets• Impossible for everyone to know everyone else• Organized chief with authority to make decisions and punish • Development of shared ideology, political, and religious identity• Development of warrior class• Chief assisted by other officials• Redistributive economy. The chief collects tribute of food and labor and

redistributes it to warriors, officials, priests, and craftsmen• Institutionalized inequality with hereditary castes• Institutionalized religion with priests and temples• These began to arise around 5500 BCE

Characteristics of the State

• Up to 1 million or several million• Multi-ethnic societies• Specialized spheres and layers of bureaucrats,

priests and standing armies• Economic specialization, stratification and

urbanization• Highly organized religion and priesthood• Emerged from about 3400 BCE

Functions of religion

• Supernatural explanations• Diffusing anxiety through ritual• Providing comfort about pain and death• Standardized organization• Preaching political obedience• Moral codes of behavior towards strangers• Justification of wars

Changes in religion’s functions through time

Neuroscientific evidence

• The brain seeks a working model of the world• The myth-making brain• The brain and rituals• The believing brain• Neurotransmitters • How the brain changes god• How god changes the brain

Why God Won’t Go Away

Basic functions or goals of the brainA. A mechanism of self-maintenanceB. A mechanism of self-transcendence