Some Futureworkers might be interesting in a posting of mine to another list. This arose from the review of "Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society" by David Sloan Wilson (University of Chicago Press) in which one person expressed surprise that no-one had criticised Wilson's views that religious belief had strong evolutionary benefits.
<<<< Well, as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing controversial about religion being an important part of man's evolution -- but only as a cultural byproduct of something else. What is unique -- or, rather, significant -- about the evolution of homo sapiens from the primate line? There are several important co-products such as the position of the larynx, the opposable thumb and one or two more, but the really significant development was the vast extension of the frontal lobes of the cortex. The frontal lobes of the cortex lying in front of the Sylvian fissure (a deep lateral crease lying across both left and right cortices), in contrast to perception-processing and associational regions of the cortex lying behind and to the sides, are, as yet, uncharted in any detail. But its fantastic growth and subsequent size in the earliest lines of the hominids and subsequently in Homo sapiens is something which can't be denied. Given that the frontal lobes are still largely mysterious, can anything important be said about them? Yes, PET scans and EEGs show that the frontal lobes are hugely activated when the individual is faced with a novel object or event. You could say that the frontal lobes have a propensity -- even an eagerness -- for novelty. Once the novelty has been processed -- and this may take a considerable time if the novelty has unusual features -- then, if action is deemed appropriate and possible, instructions are sent to the body via the motor strip lying along the frontal edge of the Sylvian fissure. If the same object or event is subsequently presented to the subject then, apart from immediate action being taken by the motor strip, the frontal lobes generally are hardly activated at all. So the important point here is that the frontal lobes are only widely activated when *future* action or circumstances are involved. It is this feature which makes man so different from the primates -- the propensity to deal with novelty and the consideration of future states of being or action. It is but one short step from this to describe three characteristics of man (and subsequent institutions) which are unique when compared with all other species. They are: 1. The exploration of the perceptible domain for signs of a future state of being after death (religion); 2. The reorganisation of the perceptual domain for signs of further novelty (the arts and the experimental sciences); 3. The ability to engage in transactions with peers even though benefits might only accrue at a future time (product innovation and trade). Different religions (and particular religions at different stages of their historical growth or decline) may have great survival benefits to adherents. Or, on the other hand, they may be detrimental -- many people have been slaughtered because of their religious belief. I suggest that the net benefit of a strong religious belief, individual or societal, is impossible to determine. However, if religion is a byproduct of the frontal lobes, then the historical development of a religion is also likely to be strongly correlated with the contemporaneous development of the arts, science, product innovation and trade. And this, I suggest, is exactly what we find when looking at the whole history of mankind from the very earliest archeological evidence right up to the present time. Several vigorous phases can be easily identified where *all* these activities (and subsequent institutions) develop simultaneously (e.g. Greece at 500BC). At societal level -- and quite often at individual level -- all three main (post-hominid) human activities are active (or are declining) together. Keith Hudson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
