Thanks to Sam for showing me how to post videos!

now that's a youtube clip...

Hallelujah and amen.


It touches briefly on something I used to refer to as the Evolution of Religion, but no one ever seemed to fully appreciate the delightfulness of that phrase as much as I did.

For example, Judaism has laws about cleanliness. I say that those laws literally evolved by natural selection, in most every sense of the term. Religion has been a societal coping mechanism, but it is now as useful as an appendix.

Posted by MutantMandias Hallelujah and amen. It touches briefly on something I used to refer to as the Evolution of Religion, but no one ever seemed to fully appreciate the delightfulness of that phrase as much as I did. For example, Judaism has laws about cleanliness. I say that those laws literally evolved by natural selection, in most every sense of the term. Religion has been a societal coping mechanism, but it is now as useful as an appendix.

I remember reading in a book I had to read for an anthropology class that a lot of the Kosher & Halal dietary restrictions arose out of practical considerations based on climate and other things. The taboo on pork, for example, was because pigs require a lot of water to raise and maintain, and water was (and is) relatively scarce in the Mideast.

The nature of belief itself has an evolutionary function.

The idea goes like this:

In early humans, the children that "believe" what they are told don't go play by the river when they are told there are monsters. In this way they don't get eaten by alligators. Thus children with more credulity grow up to have kids of thier own and are selected for.

Posted by tekriter The nature of belief itself has an evolutionary function. The idea goes like this: In early humans, the children that "believe" what they are told don't go play by the river when they are told there are monsters. In this way they don't get eaten by alligators. Thus children with more credulity grow up to have kids of thier own and are selected for.

interesting.
so you what you're saying is that the more adventurous children, the ones who want to 'see' what the monster may look like, are the ones that get eaten, ensuring that the more timid genetic strands advance.

i can get with that... just look around and that's where we are now.

Posted by Samurai now that's a youtube clip...

+1