The Believing Primate : Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections on the Origin of Religion by Michael Murray & Jeffrey Schloss

The Believing Primate : Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections on the Origin of Religion by Michael Murray & Jeffrey Schloss

Author:Michael Murray & Jeffrey Schloss [Murray, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2009-03-12T00:00:00+00:00


(Pyysiäinen 2004: 45)13

The problem is that the list of ‘religious’ properties is insufficient to distinguish religious ideas from merely strange and MCI ideas that are taken to be fanciful. So what is it that accounts for our commitment to the reality of one set of ideas and not the other?

While current theorists have offered no response to this challenge, there are at least two (potentially complementary) responses worth considering. The first goes as follows: defenders of the standard cognitive model argue that counter-intuitive religious beliefs often arise in part from the operation of a ‘hypersensitive agency detection device’ (HADD) which is in general adaptive despite generating a large number of false positives (a relatively harmless fault). In this way, religious ideas have a different origin from that of mere creatures of fiction. This might help solve the Mickey Mouse objection since beliefs formed by way of inferences from our agency detection device have two important features. First, they commit the believer to the reality of the hypothesized purposeful agent and second, the commitment is accompanied by heightened emotional arousal. A commitment to the reality of agents hypothesized by HADD is expected since such a commitment is necessary to explain the adaptive value of HADD in the first place. When I hear a certain sort of rustling in the brush or see ‘traces in the grass’ or hear things going bump in the night it is adaptive for me to respond in a way that allows me to avoid a potential threat (from a predator, for example). But I will hardly be motivated to engage in the right sorts of avoidance behavior unless I am genuinely committed to the existence of the hypothesized agent. Thus, one would expect that beliefs in counter-intuitive entities triggered by the HADD will carry existential commitment, while beliefs concerning counter-intuitive entities encountered first in dreams or works of fiction will not. Such commitment is adaptive in the former case, but not in the latter. Of course, it is part and parcel of the existential commitment to a perceived threat that the belief arouses powerful emotions, such as fear, as well. Believing that the rustling in the bushes signals a real predator leads to a fear that at least in part motivates me to flee. But it is also true that the emotional arousal itself strengthens my commitment to the reality of the hypothesized agent.14

Second, for reasons that are still not quite clear human beings exhibit a demonstrable natural tendency to hypothesize the existence of supernatural beings with a cluster of superpowers. Above I referred to empirical work which indicates a developmental tendency to favor belief in the existence of supernatural beings with super-knowing and super-perceiving faculties. But it is equally true that human beings cross-culturally are developmentally biased towards accepting belief in the existence of supernatural beings that are superpowerful, immortal (Gimenez, Guerrero, and Harris, manuscript), and creators (Kelemen 1999). If HADD leads us to hypothesize the existence of supernatural-minded agents and this is coupled with



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