Religion: Bound to believe?

Boyer, Pascal

doi:10.1038/4551038a

Cited by 124 publications

(110 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, the process of adopting religious beliefs depends on cognitive-emotional interactions within the anterior insulae, particularly among religious subjects. The findings support the view that religiosity is integrated in cognitive processes and brain networks used in social cognition, rather than being sui generis (2)(3)(4). The evolution of these networks was likely driven by their primary roles in social cognition, language, and logical reasoning (1,3,4,51).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…The biological basis of religion, though, is fiercely debated in fields as diverse as evolutionary psychology, anthropology, genetics, and cosmology. Contemporary psychological theories consider religious belief and behavior as complex brain-based phenomena that may have co-emerged in our species with novel cognitive processes for social cognition, such as Theory of Mind (ToM), and successfully engaged fundamental cognitive mechanisms, such as memory (2)(3)(4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief

Kapogiannis

Barbey

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

242

169

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We propose an integrative cognitive neuroscience framework for understanding the cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief. Our analysis reveals 3 psychological dimensions of religious belief (God's perceived level of involvement, God's perceived emotion, and doctrinal/experiential religious knowledge), which functional MRI localizes within networks processing Theory of Mind regarding intent and emotion, abstract semantics, and imagery. Our results are unique in demonstrating that specific components of religious belief are mediated by well-known brain networks, and support contemporary psychological theories that ground religious belief within evolutionary adaptive cognitive functions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief

Kapogiannis

Barbey

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

242

169

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Another interesting example is the Batek hunter-gatherers in Malaysia (38): mourners carry the body of the recently deceased on a stretcher inside the forest, and the body is then put on a platform where family members return to visit the corpse and observe the full process of decomposition. The impact of dead bodies upon the living population is further emphasized by Boyer (39,40), who points out that religion and religious thoughts are an emergent property of our standard cognitive capacities in interaction with social and natural phenomena, such as dead bodies. Boyer (39) suggests (p 226) that "religious phenomena are around because of a conspiracy of relevance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of social complexity among coastal hunter-gatherers in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile

Marquet

Santoro

Latorre

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

101

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The emergence of complex cultural practices in simple huntergatherer groups poses interesting questions on what drives social complexity and what causes the emergence and disappearance of cultural innovations. Here we analyze the conditions that underlie the emergence of artificial mummification in the Chinchorro culture in the coastal Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru. We provide empirical and theoretical evidence that artificial mummification appeared during a period of increased coastal freshwater availability and marine productivity, which caused an increase in human population size and accelerated the emergence of cultural innovations, as predicted by recent models of cultural and technological evolution. Under a scenario of increasing population size and extreme aridity (with little or no decomposition of corpses) a simple demographic model shows that dead individuals may have become a significant part of the landscape, creating the conditions for the manipulation of the dead that led to the emergence of complex mortuary practices.climate variability | coastal desert | cultural evolution

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“…Religion is cross-culturally universal (Boyer, 2008;Inglehart & Norris, 2004), but also highly variable across individuals (Norenzayan & Gervais, 2013) and societies (Inglehart & Norris, 2004). Theories of religion must accommodate and explain patterns of belief and disbelief.…”

Section: Codamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theories of religion must accommodate and explain patterns of belief and disbelief. Some models view religion primarily as a reliably developing byproduct of cognitive adaptations serving other purposes, and describe atheism as rare and both cognitively unnatural and cognitively effortful (e.g., Boyer, 2008)-perhaps even psychologically superficial (Bering, 2010). Strong interpretations of these claims are How many atheists are there?…”

Section: Codamentioning

confidence: 99%

How many atheists are there?

Gervais¹,

Najle²

2017

Preprint

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One crucible for theories of religion is their ability to predict and explain patterns of belief and disbelief. Yet, religious nonbelief is often heavily stigmatized, potentially leading many atheists to refrain from outing themselves even in anonymous polls. We used the unmatched count technique and Bayesian estimation to indirectly estimate atheist prevalence in two nationally representative samples of 2000 U.S. adults apiece.Widely-cited telephone polls (e.g., Gallup, Pew) suggest USA atheist prevalence of only 3-11%. In contrast, our most credible indirect estimate is 26% (albeit with considerable estimate and method uncertainty). Our data and model predict that atheist prevalence exceeds 11% with greater than .99 probability, and exceeds 20% with roughly .8 probability. Prevalence estimates of 11% were even less credible than estimates of 40%, and all intermediate estimates were more credible. Some popular theoretical approaches to religious cognition may require heavy revision to accommodate actual levels of religious disbelief.Keywords: religion; atheism; social desirability; stigma; Bayesian estimation How many atheists are there? 3 How many atheists are there?I am, and I wish I weren't. Aldous Huxley, Brave New WorldReligion is a core aspect of human nature, yet a comprehensive understanding of religion must also accommodate religious disbelief. Various models seek to explain commonalities in religious cognition (e.g., Boyer, 2008) and the possible adaptive benefits of religious beliefs and practices (e.g., Norenzayan et al., 2014). These models have advanced the naturalistic science of religion, one key challenge in interdisciplinary, consilient approaches to human nature (Wilson, 1999). The scientific success of theories of religion partially hinges on the degree to which they successfully predict and explain the distribution of belief and disbelief. The study of atheists-merely people who disbelieve or lack belief in the existence of God or gods 1 -is thus a central testing ground for basic theory on the origins of religious and supernatural beliefs (Norenzayan & Gervais, 2013). Unfortunately, unbiased answers to some of the most elementary questions regarding belief and disbelief are currently unavailable. Such basic questions as: How many atheists are there?1 As a terminological aside, throughout this paper we use the term "atheist" to refer to people who disbelieve or lack belief in the existence of a god or gods. This definition is standard in the psychology, sociology, and philosophy of religion. Furthermore, it is the definition of "atheist" adopted by the Oxford English Dictionary. Operationally, we thus define people as atheists if they do not indicate belief in a god or gods. We focused on binary classification of atheists not because we necessarily view religious belief as a psychologically binary phenomenon, but rather for direct comparability with existing polling data utilizing binary measurements of this complex construct.How many atheists are there? 4Existing global atheism est...

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Religion: Bound to believe?

Abstract: Atheism will always be a harder sell than religion, Pascal Boyer explains, because a slew of cognitive traits predispose us to faith.

Cited by 124 publications

References 0 publications

Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief

Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief

Emergence of social complexity among coastal hunter-gatherers in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile

How many atheists are there?

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