Proteus

Have you ever wondered why religion has been such an enormously advantageous "fitness for survival" characteristic throughout history with respect to natural selection? It is an undeniable fact, and dare I say simple truism, that the widespread perpetuation of religion itself proves this beyond rebuttal. The question is why? Some might simply jump to the conclusion that non-believers were vetted and banished...or worse. But again I ask...why? What is it about faith that it has endured so successfully over time?

DarkWizard12

Atheists would say it because the people back then weren't "intelligent" enough.

Then again, they were smart enough to build the pyramids

Lightdemon

Consistent with natural selection, religion is passed onto future generations because religion is a dominant characteristic in defining and influencing culture.

Simply stated: Those in power are often those that are part of the upper ranks in the hierarchy of whatever religion the culture adheres to. Accordingly, since they are in power, they generally make the decisions that benefit them the most. Such behavior can be seen in the Alpha males in certain species. This type of behavior ensures that their future generations are representative of thier legacy.

Natural selection, without involving the different types faiths.

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shuamort

If it weren't for Jesus, the cockroaches wouldn't have survived as long. Wait. What? This premise makes no sense.

Lachean

Dawkins acknowledges that it may have been beneficial in our evolutionary past, but as a byproduct of another function which is the act of believing and doing what you're told by your parents.

Such credulousness would have been very useful for survival, and passing on survival techniques such as to not play with fire, jump off cliffs, eat certain things, etc...

It is useful for us to believe our parents, and the nature of religion is that most people remain in the religion of their parents, which is the religion of their arbitrary location of birth.

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"Truth, in the matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived." - Oscar Wilde

nkgupta80

exactly, not everything boils down to direct survival logic:

Humans possess the ability to pass ideas (not just genetic traits) not only from person to person, but generation to generation. This is a product of our brain's social and thinking abilities, which of course were developed through biological evolution.

But now, the evolution of cultures and ideas are not really capped or directly influenced by the biological fitness they bestow to human populations . They get passed on through writing, word of mouth, etc. So unless religion greatly decreased the biological fitness of a certain human population, survival logic is not necessary to determine why certain religions survived and others didn't.

One can postulate how something like religion, art, or any abstract thinking (sciences, etc.) could have biologically arisen in early humans. But whne you start asking why it survived over "all these years" its no longer a biological question. I don't think anyone here believes that holding religious ideas are a serious biological detriment.

Proteus

I would agree that it's not an obvious biological question. However, I also submit that there exists no certainty that it is not. Religion stills plays a pivotal role in mate selection for many. The driving force behind this may be more than simple social conformity.

Jerry

It is strange that in Genisis we know that many more people were on the plannet then Atam and Eve, yet it is their decendants, not the pre-existing people (who ever they were) who dominate the plannet today.

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"Nature has it's bad designs eaten by it's good ones."
Eyes of Nye, episode 114

Jerry

And the peramids prove that these uninteligent religious zelots had a great body of scientific knowledge.

Score one for religon.

Cara

I'm having a difficult time understanding how you came to the conclusion that because religion has existed for a long period of time it is therefore a fact that it is advantageous. I'm not aware of any study group or comparison that "proves" your assertion.