
Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous? - ALee
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129528196
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pg
It certainly was at at least one stage in history. Before nation states, a
common religion could unify a large army that would otherwise be divided by
tribal/ethnic loyalties. It did for the Byzantine army after Constantine's
conversion, and worked spectacularly well a few hundred years later for the
armies of the Caliphs.

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robg
One contradiction I have yet to resolve from the neo-Darwinians: The
universality of language is taken as a precondition for our humanity and a
legitimate form of scientific study. Yet the universality of religion is taken
as an exaptation. The problem for me is that both arguments rely on the same
limited evidence. In fact, the evolution of religion may have better concrete
evidence if we consider the appearance of human burials. That's at least one
place where I'm thankful for religious influences. Saying goodbye is deeply
symbolic and I can't imagine what humanity would look like without some form
of this basic rite.

Don't get me wrong. Language is extremely important for our cognitive
abilities. But while religion may seem more superficial, especially in modern
traditions, I don't know how to see humanity without it - past or future.

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lotharbot
> _"Unfortunately it's not possible now to rewind the movie, so to speak, and
> see what actually happened. So these speculations will remain just that:
> speculations."_

I wish every ev-psych article made this point.

