On his book Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods: Early Humans and the Origins of Religion
Cover Interview of October 22, 2017
In a nutshell
Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Evolving
Brains, Emerging Gods argues that the emergence of gods was an incidental
consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient
skulls and archeological artifacts to child development, primate studies and
brain imaging, the book traces how our evolving brain gave rise to new
cognitive abilities that in turn produced new behaviors. Ultimately these new
cognitive abilities led to the emergence of gods.
For example, approximately 1.8 million years ago a new
hominin, Homo erectus, emerged. This hominin made better stone tools than
its predecessors, made spears for hunting animals, controlled fire, and
migrated halfway around the world. It is likely that Homo erectus had
developed self-awareness. This cognitive ability may be a product of a special
neuron that is found predominantly in human brain areas known to be associated
with self-awareness. Intriguingly, this special neuron has also been found in
smaller numbers in the brains of bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans,
elephants and dolphins, all of which have demonstrated rudimentary
self-awareness using mirrors. It has not been found in animals that have shown
no self-awareness.
Similarly, approximately 40,000 years ago modern Homo
sapiens began exhibiting an extraordinary range of new behaviors in painted
caves, burials with grave goods, musical instruments, improved tools and
weapons, memory devices – an outpouring of human creativity without
precedent. It is likely that Homo sapiens had developed an
autobiographical memory, the ability to relive past events emotionally, and use
that information to plan the future. Humans had essentially conquered time,
giving them a tremendous advantage over all other hominins. Soon Homo
sapiens would stand alone as the last surviving hominin.
However, autobiographical memory was a two-edged sword. Once
Homo sapiens could project himself into the future he became aware for
the first time that he would die. Overwhelmed by this knowledge, he created an
afterlife and peopled it with his ancestors. This ultimately led to ancestor
worship. As people came together in towns and cities during the subsequent
agricultural revolution, the ancestors were arranged in a hierarchy with the
most powerful ultimately becoming the first gods.
The dominant premise in evolution and economics is that a person is being loyal to natural law if he or she attends to self’s interest and welfare before being concerned with the needs and demands of family or community. The public does not realize that this statement is not an established scientific principle but an ethical preference. Nonetheless, this belief has created a moral confusion among North Americans and Europeans because the evolution of our species was accompanied by the disposition to worry about kin and the collectives to which one belongs.Jerome Kagan, Interview of September 17, 2009
[T]he Holocaust transformed our whole way of thinking about war and heroism. War is no longer a proving ground for heroism in the same way it used to be. Instead, war now is something that we must avoid at all costs—because genocides often take place under the cover of war. We are no longer all potential soldiers (though we are that too), but we are all potential victims of the traumas war creates. This, at least, is one important development in the way Western populations envision war, even if it does not always predominate in the thinking of our political leaders.Carolyn J. Dean, Interview of February 01, 2011
In a nutshell
Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods argues that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and archeological artifacts to child development, primate studies and brain imaging, the book traces how our evolving brain gave rise to new cognitive abilities that in turn produced new behaviors. Ultimately these new cognitive abilities led to the emergence of gods.
For example, approximately 1.8 million years ago a new hominin, Homo erectus, emerged. This hominin made better stone tools than its predecessors, made spears for hunting animals, controlled fire, and migrated halfway around the world. It is likely that Homo erectus had developed self-awareness. This cognitive ability may be a product of a special neuron that is found predominantly in human brain areas known to be associated with self-awareness. Intriguingly, this special neuron has also been found in smaller numbers in the brains of bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, elephants and dolphins, all of which have demonstrated rudimentary self-awareness using mirrors. It has not been found in animals that have shown no self-awareness.
Similarly, approximately 40,000 years ago modern Homo sapiens began exhibiting an extraordinary range of new behaviors in painted caves, burials with grave goods, musical instruments, improved tools and weapons, memory devices – an outpouring of human creativity without precedent. It is likely that Homo sapiens had developed an autobiographical memory, the ability to relive past events emotionally, and use that information to plan the future. Humans had essentially conquered time, giving them a tremendous advantage over all other hominins. Soon Homo sapiens would stand alone as the last surviving hominin.
However, autobiographical memory was a two-edged sword. Once Homo sapiens could project himself into the future he became aware for the first time that he would die. Overwhelmed by this knowledge, he created an afterlife and peopled it with his ancestors. This ultimately led to ancestor worship. As people came together in towns and cities during the subsequent agricultural revolution, the ancestors were arranged in a hierarchy with the most powerful ultimately becoming the first gods.