Belief in the Supernatural as an Adaptation

1. Belief in the Supernatural as an Adaptation David Viitala November 29, 2006

2. Supernatural Belief • Religion or spiritual beliefs are found all over the world, in almost every culture • About 3/4 of the world’s population follows one of the following four: • Christianity (33%) • Islam (21%) • Hinduism (14%) • Buddhism (6%)

3. Supernatural Belief • Supernatural experiences include: • Religious experiences • Spiritual experiences • Near-death experiences • Out-of-body / astral projection • Feeling the presence of spirits • Feeling possessed by spirits, demons • Auditory and visual hallucinations • and so on • These experiences are found world-wide

4. Beginnings of Supernatural Belief • Early humans had been performing mortuary practices as long as 120 000 years ago • Neanderthals and early humans placed the deceased in a sleeping position, with objects surrounding • This does not necessarily indicate a religious belief, or the idea of having a god • However this does show an awareness of death, perhaps what could come after death, as well as feelings of loss, love, and mysticism

5. Beginnings of Supernatural Belief • Thousands of years go by, and rituals become more diverse and detailed • Beliefs represented in paintings, artifacts • Eventually organized religion emerges

6. Some say… • Some say we believe in God, or a god, because there truly is a God • There very well could be? • The universe is very mystical!

7. However… • In terms of evolution, the belief in supernatural beings or worlds may have been an adaptive trait, increasing the fitness of early humans • How?

8. Belief in supernatural as an adaptation • Early humans would have benefited from living in groups • Avoiding predators • Hunting and gathering • Investments in kin • Sharing of resources • These groups would have been in competition with other groups for resources and habitats, thereby increasing the need for a strong, united group • Cooperation and cohesion would have been important

9. Belief in supernatural as an adaptation • Humans are self-interested • In a group of cooperators, a cheater could thrive • However, collective action and cooperation can be increased if there is a credible threat of punishment • Cooperation has costs, but a threat of punishment can have higher costs

10. Belief in supernatural as an adaptation • It would have became harder to cheat with the arrival of two abilities: • Capacity to infer the contents of other minds • Language • These new selection pressures would have been entirely novel • Much greater social transparency

11. Belief in supernatural as an adaptation • The belief in supernatural beings and a threat of punishment, either immediate or in the after-life, may have increased unity and deterred transgression • A god could dictate what is good, and what is bad • Cooperation requires some level of morality

12. Some supportive evidence… • Sosis (2000) found that cooperation is higher among those who are more devout • Roes and Raymond (2003) found that there is a modest but significant correlation between size of society and likelihood to be characterized by a belief in moralizing gods • Johnson (2005) found that in a sample of 186 human societies, high gods are significantly associated with larger societies

13. It could also be in part… • It is important in nature for organisms to find patterns and develop expectancies • It was perhaps a “natural consequence of human brains fearful of invoking the calamities of nature upon themselves as a result of their actions” • Belief in the supernatural could have been an effective coping mechanism

14. Some argue… • There are no brain regions specifically for religious practices • No animal precursors • Deficiency in religiosity does not seem to impede ability to survive (at least in today’s world) • No evidence that religiosity is heritable

15. Biological basis • The regions of the brain that have been linked to spiritual experiences when activated include: • The amygdala • The hippocampus • The temporal lobe • These experiences can include: • trance-like states, astral projection, dreaming, near-death experiences, and hallucinations of ghosts, spirits, demons, angels, etc • As well as intense experiences involving sexuality, fear, and rage • Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon have been found to have well developed inferior temporal lobes and limbic systems

16. Biological basis • Particularly the right side of the brain seems to be involved in dreaming and hallucinations • The right temporal lobe is more active during REM, and the left is more-so during non-REM sleep • LSD-induced hallucinations are more greatly reduced with the damage of the right temporal lobe

17. Conclusions • Evolution… it’s complicated • It is possible that the belief in supernatural agents would have been the result of a number of selective pressures • Evolutionary theory explains why religion is found everywhere

18. Thank You and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you