Psychobiology of religion

1. Psychobiology of religion

2. “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). Evolutionary psychology and biology

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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).

8. “Bold claims, high stakes, and less than high standards: Critical reflection on human evolutionary psychology” • Reverse engineering

9. Meme • God gene • God spot • God module What is the common theme of evolutionary, biological, and neurological approach to religion?