If the need for religion developed from evolution then...?

Question

If the need for religion is an evolutionary development in humans, presumably to strength the development of a society- then is it very wise for us to try to destroy what our fore-monkey-fathers thought so important for us to have?

-Obviously this isn't a question for people who believe in God, but for those who don't. And if you don't believe, surely you must see religion as evolutionary as it appears in every culture... So shouldn't we be religious for the sake of the earth and our species?

Answer 1

Firstly, your question is based on an assumption that may not be valid. Many of the people studying the evolution of religion believe that religion is a byproduct of one or more adaptations, does not have significant evolutionary benefit, and may even be an evolutionary detriment.

One example of a trait that may have religion as a byproduct is pattern recognition. Recognition of patterns is of evolutionary benefit, since (for example) recognizing that a herd of deer passes by a particular point every eight days can lead to a person or tribe being better fed, or recognizing that a particular type of tracks means that a lion is in the area leads to not getting killed. Pattern recognition is of such strong benefit that humans have evolved to see patterns that aren't actually there, such as shapes in the clouds or in inkblots, "good luck" following certain rituals, or (in my opinion) order and design in the universe. There is simply less detriment to seeing a false pattern than there is to missing a real one, and these false patterns may have led to religion evolving without religion being of benefit in itself.

Secondly, even if religion was originally of evolutionary benefit, it evolved in an environment where humans lived in small tribes. Cultural change is much, much faster than biological evolution, and human cultures have changed to such a degree that any benefits still derived from religion have decreased greatly, while the detriments from at least some forms of religion have dramatically increased.

Answer 2

Is there any reason it would be any more or less significant than the removal of the apendix?... It was important at one stage of human evolution, but those in this current stage who have done without it have been able to cope just fine, if not better because they gain an immunities to certain problems which haunt the species. If the development of religion was necisary for the development of society, it seems as if it was necisary for just that, the development, not the findal stabilization. If the apendix was a necisary step in the development of our current digestive system, does that mean we should keep it around?...

Religion seems to have been developed as much by societal evolution as biological evolution, and the biological counterpart could very well be ignored were the societal one not present.

Answer 3

Religion is not evolutionary. Think about all mankind coming from a group of people who were at one time extremely close to God and actually talked with him. As time went on man lost sight of God but still had some of the ideas still with them. More time goes by and we have so many different religions but with some of the same stories. Religion is the need for mankind to find God.

Answer 4

As an atheist I see no harm at all in religion, and everyone should be entitled to their beliefs.

I think at its best it aids people on their path of life, gives them meaning and helps them make the right moral choices.

It is only when larger organised religions begin killing each other in the name of god that it is a problem, but I'm not sure if you can really blame religion for that as much as you can blame idiots who look for an excuse to start wars. If it isn't one thing, it might just be another.

There are a lot of other things that could be termed "evolutionary development", but they aren't all good things. Not to say that religion isn't good - I actually think it is, but to "be religious" for the sake of it being the way it has been since a very early time wouldn't be enough to convince me it is right for me.

Answer 5

Hmm... I would think our fore-monkey-fathers might have been more interested in food than in religion...But I do think they had a "moral" view in that they would look after the family unit. Look at mankind as the family unit...and then perhaps you can see that the religious evolution should include a plan to live together in harmony, morality and ethically.

Answer 6

Belief systems developed as a way to answer questions about the world around them when they didn't yet have the tools and science to answer. So a god carried the sun across the sky each day, another god stole a young woman to be his bride, returning her to the earth every spring to spend time with her mom which is what lead to life being reborn each spring time...

And just the same, as science developed and provided answers, then the need for some to have higher beings to explain everything diminished.

Answer 7

Assuming that god doesn't exist, I believe the need to controll the actions of civilians in a culture are the basis of created religions. They have to have something to fear, something they cannot see, in order to make official rules with very scary consequences. At this point, atleast in Modern Society, the need for religion is much much less. We have our own way of controlling the people, with severe physical consequences.

I believe the bible, and most religious text is a great message for society to follow. It should NOT be taken literally.

Answer 8

Yes. Religion was the initial response to the curiosity we had. The same curiosity that allowed us to find the advantage to the situation had the side affect of creating a need to know. At first we "deduced" it to be the work of divinity.

That need is dying out. We have the real answers now. We must slowly let religion go. Evolution is about change, not conservatism. You only conserve what works, and after thousands of years of God, one century of science has created exponential prosperity.

Answer 9

People appear to be reproducing adequately (in most parts of the world, anyway). I'd be more concerned with birth control pills than with religion, so far as evolution goes.

Answer 10

that's probably a area results of something else that became evolutionarily effective. further operating example, in the searching and gathering degree of human existence, existence became risky. those persons who managed to stay lengthy ought to have gained understanding on a thanks to live on and ought to were regarded on as large instructors. different individuals of the gang who had the psychological state to take heed to and study from the instructors ought to truly have survived to bypass on their genes. for that reason, a respect for the instructors had an evolutionary benefit for the social team. the outcome ought to were to seem upon the instructors with reverence. As societies stepped ahead, this view ended in a favor that ultimately better, first by using ancestor worship of significant instructors of the previous, and ultimately to a conception that the instructors of old had supernatural powers. because the psychological kind in the course of popularity of the authority of the instructors became exceeded on genetically, maximum individuals common the beliefs and faith became born.