Philosophy
Among my favorite books of all time, Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene" and "The Extended Phenotype" must be way up there. When it comes to massive and repeated assaults of intellectual stimulation, these books will give you a mindgasm. Hamilton's idea, and popularized by Dawkins, that the gene is the ultimate unit of selection, is an extremely fruitful and elegant way to explain otherwise counter-intuitive biological adaptations.
And yet, I don't think the selfish gene hypothesis captures the entirety of the idea of the unit of selection. I subscribe to multi-level selection theory, which has been spearheaded over the last few decades almost single-handedly by David Sloan Wilson (from whom I actually learned the stuff). As its name suggests, this broader theory argues that natural selection can take place at the level of genes, individual organisms or even groups, provided certain conditions are met.
When it comes to the evolutionary study of religion, there are various sorts of hypotheses. Dennett seems to favor a meme-based approach; Dawkins likes to think that it's either a programming bug or simply a byproduct of some other adaptation; and others think that religion is a legitimate adaptation on its own right. One of the most interesting (and possibly correct) hypotheses about the evolution of religion, you will not be surprised to hear, is Wilson's group selection theory: while competition is not always best within groups (because free-riders will exploit the nice altruistic suckers and drive them to extinction), it is extremely efficient when it comes to competition between groups. So, while religion may not always be all that good for the individual members of a religion, it definitely gives strength, resources, cohesion and power to groups. This might also be why religious people can't shut up about their beliefs :)
Anyway, in this somewhat bizarre TEDTalk presentation, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, while trying to say something profound about religion and self-transcendence, actually has more interesting stuff to say about group selection.
Try explaining massive-scale war on the selfish gene hypothesis... possible, but not entirely convincing.
If you're curious about David Sloan Wilson's approach to the scientific study of religion, you might want to check out this fascinating lecture.
- Beautiful Minds - Richard Dawkins
If you've been following this blog for a while, you're probably familiar with the various documentaries, debates and lectures Richard Dawkins has delivered over the years. Sure, his fame of late has to do with the religion/atheism and creationism/evolution...
- David Sloan Wilson - Religion And Other Meaning Systems
Even though I'm not as vociferous about my antagonism toward religious belief as people like Christopher Hitchens, PZ Myers, Jerry Coyne or Bill Maher, my feelings on the subject are probably not all that different from theirs. Arguing about supernatural...
- Susan Blackmore - Memes And 'temes'
Think about the amount of corn produced in the world. From our point of view, we might think that there is so much of it because it serves our needs. From the point of view of corn, however, it might think that it only helps us because we are a convenient...
- Darwin: The Most Revolutionary Scientist Of All Time
150 years ago today, Chuck Darwin published his famous On the Origin of Species, so it's appropriate to dedicate today's entry to the brilliance and imaginative power of this radical intellectual. In the following thought-provoking lecture, Richard...
- Richard Dawkins Dialogs With Eryn Brown Of The Los Angeles Times
"Q&A: Richard Dawkins discusses evolution, religion and his fans" British author and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins talks about evolution, religion and his 'appetite for wonder.' by Eryn Brown November 30, 2013 Los Angeles Times Richard...
Philosophy
Jonathan Haidt - Religion, Evolution and the Ecstasy of Self-Transcendence
And yet, I don't think the selfish gene hypothesis captures the entirety of the idea of the unit of selection. I subscribe to multi-level selection theory, which has been spearheaded over the last few decades almost single-handedly by David Sloan Wilson (from whom I actually learned the stuff). As its name suggests, this broader theory argues that natural selection can take place at the level of genes, individual organisms or even groups, provided certain conditions are met.
Anyway, in this somewhat bizarre TEDTalk presentation, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, while trying to say something profound about religion and self-transcendence, actually has more interesting stuff to say about group selection.
Try explaining massive-scale war on the selfish gene hypothesis... possible, but not entirely convincing.
If you're curious about David Sloan Wilson's approach to the scientific study of religion, you might want to check out this fascinating lecture.
- Beautiful Minds - Richard Dawkins
If you've been following this blog for a while, you're probably familiar with the various documentaries, debates and lectures Richard Dawkins has delivered over the years. Sure, his fame of late has to do with the religion/atheism and creationism/evolution...
- David Sloan Wilson - Religion And Other Meaning Systems
Even though I'm not as vociferous about my antagonism toward religious belief as people like Christopher Hitchens, PZ Myers, Jerry Coyne or Bill Maher, my feelings on the subject are probably not all that different from theirs. Arguing about supernatural...
- Susan Blackmore - Memes And 'temes'
Think about the amount of corn produced in the world. From our point of view, we might think that there is so much of it because it serves our needs. From the point of view of corn, however, it might think that it only helps us because we are a convenient...
- Darwin: The Most Revolutionary Scientist Of All Time
150 years ago today, Chuck Darwin published his famous On the Origin of Species, so it's appropriate to dedicate today's entry to the brilliance and imaginative power of this radical intellectual. In the following thought-provoking lecture, Richard...
- Richard Dawkins Dialogs With Eryn Brown Of The Los Angeles Times
"Q&A: Richard Dawkins discusses evolution, religion and his fans" British author and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins talks about evolution, religion and his 'appetite for wonder.' by Eryn Brown November 30, 2013 Los Angeles Times Richard...