A fascinating study into why human societies develop religion. Lewis Wolpert gives an explanation that belief was a by-product of the brain's development for using tools.
In essence, our brains are pre-programmed to have a tendency to accept religious and mystical beliefs because as our brains developed, they created causal beliefs of why the things around them were the way they were and did what they did. The better the organism was at this trick - the better it (and its offspring) survived.
Quite accessible as a read and he avoids technical jargon. Also not too dogmatic in the explanations.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
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