To The Brain, God Is Just Another Guy
evolution, science, bias, news
March 9, 2009, by Jon Hamilton
Two stories: one suggesting early humans evolved or invented religion when their brains grew complex enough to handle it, and the other showing us only recently discovered "proof" chimpanzee brains are more complex than we thought. Does any one see the implication maybe our "experts" don't really understand ancient humans as much as they think they do?
Grafman says that probably means religions appeared as humans evolved the ability to handle complicated social interactions during the past 60,000 years or so.
Joseph Bulbulia, an expert on the cognitive psychology of religion at Victoria University in New Zealand, says most evidence of religious behavior only dates back about 10,000 years, raising questions about why humans didn't become religious sooner.
Planning of the Apes: Zoo Chimp Plots Rock Attacks on Visitors
March 9, 2009, by Coco Ballantyne
Think people are the only ones who can plan for the future? You may change your mind when you hear the story of Santino the chimpanzee, whose premeditated attacks on zoo visitors are described today in Current Biology.
At least one perspective of the story shows there is biological justification for religion, and that it is not a "cultural virus" as Richard Dawkins thinks.
Our brains are wired up for god
March 10, 2009, by Leigh Dayton