Episode Details

Hypersensitive agency detection and promiscuous teleology in human brains make a powerful religion-making machine

Millions of years of evolution have produced a powerful neural reflex within animals: we immediately assume there’s a being behind every rustling in the grass. We see faces in puffy clouds and random patterns on the ground. If we hear a sound in a dark room, we cautiously ask: “who‘s there?” Some refer to this reflex as a hypersensitive agency detector. Is this reflex behind humanity’s tendency to find divine beings all around us: gods in nature … demons causing bizarre psychological or medical problems … dead relatives materializing in the corner of our bedroom … anthropomorphizing our pets?

We humans also have a tendency to identify meaning and purpose behind events and phenomena. Accidents and diseases are a punishment for some transgression. People suffering a misfortune claim to “have bad karma” and ask questions like: “why did this happen to me?” … as if there’s a reasonable answer to that. Mushrooms growing in a circular pattern are called a “fairy ring”. We see something unusual and we quickly come up with a story to explain it, including who did it and why. This cognitive tendency has been referred to as “promiscuous teleology”.

Put these two ingredients together, and you have a very powerful religion-making machine. It explains why humans all around the globe, all through recorded history, and from every demographic slice of the pie, all have different religions.

Is this natural built-in mechanism out of control in people who are hyperreligious … superstitious … worried about demon-possession?

Is this natural built-in mechanism broken in people who call themselves atheists?

Does this naturalistic explanation for religion de-legitimize religious belief?

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