Transcript Psychobiology of religion - Creative

Psychobiology of religion
“Current Biology”
 Men like blue and women like the color
between red and purple
 Explanation: in hunting-gathering society,
men hunted and women gathered.
Women were sensitive to ripe fruits
(between red and purple).
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Evolutionary psychology
and biology
E. O. Wilson: Sociobiology
 Evolutionary psychology
 Evolutionary game theory (not in the
textbook)
 What is the major problem of evolutionary
approach to religion in terms of
methodology?
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Robert Wright
“Moral animal”
“The evolution of God”
Men: prefer many mates
Women: tend to attach to one
Explanation: gene propagation; a man
can make many women pregnant in a
short time but a woman can produce one
egg per month.
A natural history of
rape
 It is “natural” for men
to sexually attack
women.
 Evolution: force sex is
an effective way to
populate your genes.
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Ryan and Jetha (2012): Current cultural
norms on sex obscures our true human
nature, and also creates the problems of
collapsing marriage, sexual frustration,
libido-killing boredom, impulsive betrayal,
dysfunction, confusion, and shame.
 We deny our eroticism and fool ourselves
that monogamy is natural.
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In prehistoric societies our ancestors lived
in communities that shared everything,
including sex partners, in order to survive
with limited resources.
 Women are capable of multiple orgasms
and this supports the thesis of prehistoric
promiscuity.
 The sexual norms changed when
agricultural societies emerged and people
started to develop the concept of private
properties (wife was seen as a piece of
private property).
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“Bold claims, high stakes, and less than
high standards: Critical reflection on
human evolutionary psychology”
 Reverse engineering
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Meme
 God gene
 God spot
 God module
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What is the common theme of
evolutionary, biological, and
neurological approach to religion?