Belief, Ritual, and the Evolution of Religion

Abstract

This chapter outlines an evolutionary scenario for the emergence of religion. From cognitive science, four mental prerequisites of religious cognition are discussed: (1) hyperactive agency detection, (2) theory of mind, (3) imagination, and (4) altered states of consciousness. Evidence for these prerequisites in nonhuman primates suggests their presence in our early hominin ancestors. From comparative psychology, evidence of ritual behavior in nonhuman primates and other species is reviewed. Archeological evidence of ritual behavior is also discussed. Collectively, these data indicate that the first step toward religion was an elaboration of primate social rituals to include group synchronized activities such as dancing, chanting, and singing. Control of fire, pigment use, and increasing brain size would have intensified group synchronized rituals over time, which, in the context of increased intergroup interactions, eventually led to the first evidence of supernatural ritual at about 70,000 years before present.

The role of ritual behaviour in anxiety reduction: an investigation of Marathi religious practices in Mauritius

“…Ritual is a human universal, found without exception in all known past and present societies of Homo sapiens [1]. The cross-cultural pervasiveness of ritual behaviour raises questions about its evolutionary origins and possible adaptive functions in the human lineage.…”

“…In a laboratory assessment of this theory [32], participants who were placed in an anxiety-provoking situation displayed more ritualized behaviour in their movement patterns, and the level of anxiety predicted the degree of ritualization-an effect which was replicated in a subsequent study [40]. 1 However, there is no direct evidence that performing repetitive movements in pre-defined rigid patterns also facilitates anxiety reduction. To this end, we obtained motion capture data throughout the ritual practices performed by participants in the ritual condition and quantified the movements' repetitiveness and rigidity, predicting that the amount of ritualization would be predictive of subsequent anxiety decrease.…”