Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods: Early Humans and the Origins of Religion
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.89 (909 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0231183364 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 312 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-12-25 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Religions and mythologies from around the world teach that God or gods created humans. This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries.. Atheist, humanist, and materialist critics, meanwhile, have attempted to turn theology on its head, claiming that religion is a human invention. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution.Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging,
. His books include The Roots of Treason: Ezra Pound and the Secret of St. Fuller Torrey is associate director for research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute and the founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center. Elizabeths (1984); The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens (2008); Surviving
Fuller Torrey offers a scholarly and insightful treatise on the neuroscientific relationship between humanity and deities. (Jeffrey Lieberman, Jeffrey Lieberman, chair of psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center and psychiatrist in chief of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, past president of the American Psychiatric Association)An excellent text that throws new light on where religious ideas come from. A unique scholarly approach to the subject that is sure to be influential and highly regarded. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Stanford University)In Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods, E. In his twenty-first book