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Religion Explained
''Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought'' is a 2001 book by cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer, in which the author discusses the evolutionary psychology of religion and evolutionary origin of religions. Summary Boyer describes the genesis of religious concepts as a phenomenon of the mind's cognitive inference systems, comparable to pareidolia and perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena resulting from face perception processes within the human brain. Boyer supports this naturalistic origin of religion with evidence from many specialized disciplines including biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and information processing. ''Religion Explained'' frames religious practices and beliefs in terms of recent cognitive neuroscience research in the modularity of mind. This theory involves cognitive "modules" ("de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pascal Boyer
Pascal Robert Boyer is a French-American cognitive anthropology, cognitive anthropologist and evolutionary psychology, evolutionary psychologist, mostly known for his work in the cognitive science of religion. He taught at the University of Cambridge for eight years, before taking up the position of Henry Luce Professor of Individual and Collective Memory at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches classes on evolutionary psychology and anthropology. He was a Guggenheim Fellow and a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Lyon, France. He studied philosophy and anthropology at University of Paris and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, with Jack Goody, working on memory constraints on the transmission of oral literature. Boyer is a Member of thAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences Work Pascal Boyer, an anthropologist, studies how human biases and cognitive faculties have resulted in or encouraged cultural phenomena. He advo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life forms on Earth. Evolution is based on the theory that all species are related and they gradually change over time. In a population, the genetic variations affect the physical characteristics i.e. phenotypes of an organism. These changes in the phenotypes will be an advantage to some organisms, which will then be passed onto their offspring. Some examples of evolution in species over many generations are the Peppered Moth and Flightless birds. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biology emerged through what Julian Huxley called the modern synthesis of understanding, from previously unrelated fields of biological research, such as genetics and ecology, systematics, and paleontology. The importance of studying Evolutionary biology is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Klinghoffer
David Klinghoffer is an Orthodox Jewish author and essayist, and a proponent of the pseudoscientific idea of intelligent design. He is a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute, the organization that is the driving force behind the intelligent design movement. He was a frequent contributor to ''National Review'', and a former columnist for the Jewish weekly newspaper ''The Forward'', to which he still contributes occasional essays. Intelligent design Klinghoffer has published a series of articles, editorial columns, and letters to the editor in both Jewish and non-Jewish conservative publications seeking to promote the pseudoscience of intelligent design and to discredit Darwinian views of evolution. Religion Klinghoffer is an Orthodox Jew who has written a spiritual memoir about his religious background. He was raised in Reform Judaism by his adoptive parents, and formally converted to Orthodox Judaism, In his book, ''Why the Jews Rejected Jesus'', Klinghoffer theorizes that Jewi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi ( he, בנימין בית-הלחמי) (born June 12, 1943) is an Israeli professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, Israel. In 1970 Beit-Hallahmi received a PhD in clinical psychology from Michigan State University. Bibliography Books * ''Psychoanalysis and religion: A bibliography'', Norwood Editions, 1978 * ''Israeli Connection'', 1982, * ''Prolegomena to the Psychological Study of Religion'', 1989, * ''Despair and Deliverance: Private Salvation in Contemporary Israel'', 1992, * ''The Annotated Dictionary of Modern Religious Movements'', 1994, * ''Religion, Psychopathology And Coping.(International Series in the Psychology of Religion 4)'', 1996, Rodopi Bv Editions, * ''Psychoanalytic Studies of Religion : A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography'', 1996, * ''The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience'', 1997, w/ Michael Argyle, Routledge, * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Language Module
The language module or language faculty is a hypothetical structure in the human brain which is thought to contain innate capacities for language, originally posited by Noam Chomsky. There is ongoing research into brain modularity in the fields of cognitive science and neuroscience, although the current idea is much weaker than what was proposed by Chomsky and Jerry Fodor in the 1980s. In today's terminology, 'modularity' refers to specialisation: language processing is specialised in the brain to the extent that it occurs partially in different areas than other types of information processing such as visual input. The current view is, then, that language is neither compartmentalised nor based on general principles of processing (as proposed by George Lakoff). It is modular to the extent that it constitutes a specific cognitive skill or area in cognition. Meaning of a module The notion of a dedicated language module in the human brain originated with Noam Chomsky's theory of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reading (process)
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling), alphabetics, phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Other types of reading and writing, such as pictograms (e.g., a hazard symbol and an emoji), are not based on speech-based writing systems. The common link is the interpretation of symbols to extract the meaning from the visual notations or tactile signals (as in the case of Braille). Overview Reading is typically an individual activity, done silently, although on occasion a person reads out loud for other listeners; or reads aloud for one's own use, for better comprehension. Before the reintroduction of separated text (spaces between words) in the late Middle Ages, the ability to read silently was considered rather remarkable. Major pred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spandrel (biology)
In evolutionary biology, a spandrel is a phenotypic trait that is a byproduct of the evolution of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection. Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin brought the term into biology in their 1979 paper " The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme". Adaptationism is a point of view that sees most organismal traits as adaptive products of natural selection. Gould and Lewontin sought to temper what they saw as adaptationist bias by promoting a more structuralist view of evolution. The term "spandrel" originates from architecture, where it refers to the roughly triangular spaces between the top of an arch and the ceiling. Etymology The term was coined by Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould and population geneticist Richard Lewontin in their paper "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme" (1979). Evol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zande People
The Azande are an Ubangian ethnic group in Central Africa. They live in the south-central and southwestern part of South Sudan, southeastern Central African Republic, and northeastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congolese Azande live in Orientale Province along the Uele River; Isiro, Dungu, Kisangani and Duruma. The Central African Azande live in the districts of Rafaï, Bangasu and Obo. The Azande of South Sudan live in Central, Western Equatoria and Western Bahr al-Ghazal States, Yei, Maridi, Yambio, Tombura, Deim Zubeir, Wau Town and Momoi. Zande people are similar to Bantu and their languages are similar to Bantu languages. History The Azande were believed to be formed by a military conquest during the first half of the 18th century. They were led by two dynasties that differed in origin and political strategy. The Vungara clan created most of the political, linguistic, and cultural parts. A non-Zande dynasty, the Bandia, expanded into northern Zair ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agent Detection
Agent detection is the inclination for animals, including humans, to presume the purposeful intervention of a sentient or intelligent agent in situations that may or may not involve one. Evolutionary origins It is believed that humans evolved agent detection as a survival strategy. In situations where one is unsure of the presence of an intelligent agent (such as an enemy or a predator), there is survival value in assuming its presence so that precautions can be taken. For example, if a human came across an indentation in the ground that might be a lion's footprint, it is advantageous to err on the side of caution and assume that the lion is present. Psychologists Kurt Gray and Daniel Wegner wrote: Role in religion Some scientists believe that the belief in acting gods is an evolutionary by-product of agent detection. A spandrel is a non-adaptive trait formed as a side effect of an adaptive trait. The psychological trait in question is "if you hear a twig snap in the forest, som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modularity Of Mind
Modularity of mind is the notion that a mind may, at least in part, be composed of innate neural structures or mental modules which have distinct, established, and evolutionarily developed functions. However, different definitions of "module" have been proposed by different authors. According to Jerry Fodor, the author of ''Modularity of Mind'', a system can be considered 'modular' if its functions are made of multiple dimensions or units to some degree. One example of modularity in the mind is ''binding''. When one perceives an object, they take in not only the features of an object, but the integrated features that can operate in sync or independently that create a whole. Instead of just seeing ''red'', ''round'', ''plastic'', and ''moving'', the subject may experience a rolling red ball. Binding may suggest that the mind is modular because it takes multiple cognitive processes to perceive one thing. Early investigations Historically, questions regarding the ''functional architectu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental processes. It addresses the questions of how cognitive activities are affected or controlled by neural circuits in the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both neuroscience and psychology, overlapping with disciplines such as behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, physiological psychology and affective neuroscience.Gazzaniga 2002, p. xv Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science coupled with evidence from neurobiology, and computational modeling. Parts of the brain play an important role in this field. Neurons play the most vital role, since the main point is to establish an understanding of cognition from a neural perspective, along with the different lobes of the cerebral cortex. Methods employed in c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information Processing
Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process that ''describes'' everything that happens (changes) in the universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in position) to the printing of a text file from a digital computer system. In the latter case, an information processor (the printer) is changing the form of presentation of that text file (from bytes to glyphs). The computers up to this period function on the basis of programs saved in the memory, having no intelligence of their own. In cognitive psychology Within the field of cognitive psychology, information processing is an approach to the goal of understanding human thinking in relation to how they process the same kind of information as computers (Shannon & Weaver, 1963). It arose in the 1940s and 1950s, after World War II (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012). The approach treats cognition as essentially computational in nature, with ''mind'' b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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