What evolutionary advantages does religion offer?

Question

Religions have dominated the cultural landscape for millenia. What characteristics of religion can account for this dominance?

Religion has not only survived for millenia, it has thrived. Therefore, whether you personally like it or not, it must afford some advantages.

Mutley, you've just about hit the nail on the head. The advantage that religion gives, is that it enables the control of large masses of people.

In early human history, humans lived in small family groups. The larger your group, the better you were able to defend against outsiders. As the human race increased, the size of these groups increased, especially with the advent of cities. Groups were held together by a common characteristic, be it familial, ethnicity, race, culture or whatever. The larger the group that could be mobilized against a threat, the better the chance of survival.

Religion is the most efficient form of group. It crosses family, ethnic, racial, and cultural boundaries. Although there may be divisions within a religion, just as there were in family groups, when the group is threatened, it unites against a common foe.

Religions have the ability to mobilize large numbers of people against a common enemy, that's the evolutionary advantage of religion.

Answer 1

Religion is a powerful tool that controls masses of people.
the advantages would be if you weilded that power.

Answer 2

The question is, What EVOLUTIONARY advantages does religion offer. Well, how about this: Most religions teach that people shouldn't over-induldge or take part at all in things such as heavy drinking, drugs, promiscuity, etc. Well, we now know what a horrible disease alcoholism is and what drugs and alcohol can do to the body in excess. Also, drugs and promiscuity have lead to an increase in STD's, especially AIDs, which is lethal. So, if you're religious and follow just those simple steps to avoid alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity, then you've got a better chance of long-term survival as compared to someone who's an alcoholic, heroin-shooting, sex addict.

Answer 3

Wee difficulty. It wasn't nonbelievers who have been sacrificed (different than interior the context of conflict and that grow to be a minimum of as a lot approximately political id as faith), it grow to be the believers, or the little little ones of believers, who have been murdered as sacrifices. Judaism emerged as a various faith, not purely because of the fact of its monotheistic perspectives, yet because of the fact of its refusal to tolerate human sacrifice. i don't think of that faith inevitably presented an evolutionary benefit different than team unity. such as you alluded to, i think of this is a lot extra a rely of it being a by utilizing-fabricated from the filtering mechanisms that our brains use. this may well be a extremely substantial concept -- not all characteristics have direct evolutionary reward. Even detrimental characteristics (like potential for habit) may well be carried forward in the event that they're linked to different characteristics that have substantial adequate benefit. faith probably comes out of our techniques's tendency to seem for types and assign which potential. this is how we guard the infinite quantity of sensory documents we bump into. Our preliminary types are in many cases erroneous, yet we've the potential to reprocess those types to strengthen their accuracy. it is how we learn. in terms of sacrifice, that likely arose from our troublesome-under pressure inclinations in the direction of linking an result (famine, organic mess ups, crop failure, undesirable hunt, etc.) with our behaviours - even while they don't seem to be -- and that they making up narrations to coach it right into a coherent total. the tutorial is improving our expertise of reason and result. Very early interior the history of Judaism, somebody known that sacrifice did not certainly strengthen team prosperity. Divine notion or a flash of human perception? i don't be attentive to and that i'm undecided it completely concerns. We have been given there interior the tip. like various different equipment of theory, religions can make stronger the types or they are able to help us learn how to strengthen their accuracy. this is that potential this is evolutionary valuable, not its particular cases.

Answer 4

Religion has bought fellowship & a degree of civilization to society--unfortunately it has also bought the worst form of tribalism to the planet.

Answer 5

Human gullibility. Also it is a staple of activities from the R-Complex of the brain. Which makes it a bad thing that needs to be eradicated.

Answer 6

Religion offers security and peace of mind. Its a way out of any problem.

Answer 7

Religion offers no advantage whatsoever.

Answer 8

none. just chaos and loud bangs about the greatness of each gods.

Answer 9

zero