Evolutionary and Cognitive Science of Religion
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The study of religions and similarly complex cultural phenomena was traditionally conducted by scholars in the humanities; however, in the past 30 years, the field of religious studies experienced an exponential growth of evolutionarily and cognitively oriented approaches to the study of religions. Due to its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, which is inherent in cognitive sciences, we can study religions as complex adaptive systems, investigating individual mechanisms of this system and their functional connections. In the current talk, I will focus mainly on the role of rituals in facilitating cooperation, presenting findings both from field and laboratory studies, which show how individual ritual mechanisms help build cohesive groups. |
| Related projects: |