Origin of Religion

FYI=The information presented here was obtained from various reliable sources mostly from Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Neuropsychology studies of the origins and changes of biological traits across generations within a species, and of the neural basis of behaviors and cognitive abilities through an evolutionary lens, from fields like neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology to understand how brain adaptations arose to address environmental challenges faced by our ancestors. Alternative explanations are available

Very Extensive Amazing List of hundreds (4200) of religions and spiritual traditions created by Homo sapiens. It links you to each religion, its branches or sects.

In the Introduction to the list RELIGION is defined as “a system of symbols, traditions and stories which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.

2. According to current scientific understanding, the capacity for belief in humans likely developed sometime around 40,000 to 100,000 years ago with the emergence of modern Homo sapiens. Key points to consider:

-Brain development: The significant increase in brain size during the evolution of Homo sapiens played a crucial role in developing the cognitive abilities necessary for complex belief systems.

*Most people assume “belief” refers to religion. But it is so much more. Belief is the ability to combine histories and experiences with imagination, to think beyond the here and now. A rock became an utensil eg knife, a fire could be used to cook meat, and so forth you can think of the millions of things humans have created using their imagination/

*More than 2 million years ago, our genus (Homo) emerged and pushed the evolutionary envelope. One of the skills that helped Homo succeed was IMAGINATION— But their brains didn’t uniformly enlarge. Parts of the frontal lobes—which play critical roles in emotional, social, motivational, and perceptual processes, as well as decision-making, attention, and working memory—expanded and elaborated at an increased rate. Also over the course of hominin history approximately 16 billion more cerebellar neurons were added involved with that enhanced social and sensory-motor skills, imitation, and complex sequences of behavior. The development of IMAGINATION evolved into ability to BELIEVE : MEANING MAKING, Complex believe systems.

*There are numerous explanations for the evolution of religions, and none of them by itself is satisfactory. e.g. SUPERNATURAL AGENTS as the cause of mental states, lightning, and illness. Other researchers note that the rise of huge, hierarchical communities that engaged in large-scale cooperation and warfare correlated with the rise of far-reaching, hierarchical religions with powerful, moralizing deities. Some scientists posit that “big groups” prompted the creation of “big gods” who could enforce order and cooperation in unruly societies. Other researchers hypothesize the reverse: that humans first created “big god” religions in order to coordinate larger and larger social groups.

--Between about 4,000 to 15,000 years ago, numerous radical transitions occurred in many populations shaped by BELIEF SYSTEMS. Concepts of property and inequality emerged. Towns and, eventually, cities grew. All of this led to the formation of multi-community settlements with stratified political and economic structures. Toward the end of this period—by 4,000 to 8,000 years ago—we see clear evidence of organized religious institutions: monuments, gathering places, sanctuaries, and altars.

4. THE AXIAL AGE Within a span of merely six centuries, there was a HUGE EXPLOSION OF THOUGHT. From roughly 800 BCE to 200 BCE, all of the major civilizations produced incredible people with incredible ideas. In Greece, we saw the likes of Socrates, Archimedes, Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In the Middle East, we got Jewish prophets like Isiah and Ezekiel, as well as Zoroaster in Persia. In India, we got the Buddha and the writing of the Hindu Upanishads. And in China, Confucianism and Taoism came into their own, as well as the worship of the Sun in many cultures,

*Still other experts say the human capacity for imagination became so expansive it reached beyond the real and the possible into the unreal and the impossible. This generated the CAPACITY FOR TRANSCENDENCE—a central feature in the religious experience.

*But though belief can be transcendent, creative, and unifying, not all of humanity’s beliefs are beneficial. e.g. many humans today believe the world should be exploited for our benefit. Many believe that racial, gendered, and xenophobic inequalities are a “natural” result of inherent differences. Many believe in religious, scientific, or political fundamentalism, which is often used as a weapon against other belief systems.

*Over the past 2 million years, we have evolved a capacity that has benefited humans but can also introduce horrible possibilities. It is up to us to manage how we use this power.