Public
From orgy to clergy
Maybe religion does have an evolutionary origin after all - as an instrument of courtship
It seems the announcement of the imminent demise of God has been greatly exaggerated - religion and spirituality are alive and kicking. If things go really awry, we may even soon be living in a religious caliphate, with a lot of heads missing. And evolutionary psychologists are speculating vocally about the existence of an innate "God instinct" that allegedly helped our ancestors in the struggle for existence and procreation. But psychologist Harald Euler from Essen Polytechnic in Germany favors a different theory about the origin of faith, which is likely to inconvenience the clergy as badly as the prospect of an injection of holy water would disturb the devil. Euler's core message: Religion came into being as a tool for courtship - with the goal of increasing the prospect of copulation!
If religion really represented the solution to a problem of survival, then evolution should have enforced a certain optimal variant - just as with our hand and heart, which look about the same for everyone. Instead, there is an incredible variety of spiritual forms that have surprisingly little in common. In addition, the most serious exercise of religious practices requires a significant commitment and can hardly be done on the fly. But according to the theory of evolution, only those characteristics endure that help their carriers survive and spread their genes.
Would it not be more effective to build dams and irrigation systems, rather than tediously plead hearing impaired deities for rain? And why should patients be content with the hope for spiritual healing if they could also search for effective medicine at the same time? Euler postulates that religion is merely a demonstrative handicap: "Look, I can afford to be religious. I have so many resources that I can give my time, my blood, my possession abundantly to the deities."
And of course this advertising message is aimed only at one target: sex. The combination of an opulent variety of shapes on the one hand and an handicap on the other makes every connoisseur of Natural History think of the sauciest chapter of the theory of evolution: sexual selection. Because females in the animal kingdom can read out the genetic qualities of male contenders from so-called fitness indicators. These are flamboyant badges, like strikingly colorful ornaments or the peacock's fan, which are rather impractical or even a hindrance to survival. The logic behind this trappings: males which can afford to carry such a ballast signal that they are highly suitable sperm donors.
A few years ago, the American evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller surprised the experts with the proposal to interpret even the products of the human mind as such fitness indicators. Art and music served, at least in the early phase of human evolution, no apparent survival purpose. Instead, they were created for the goal of courting females - as a poster child for the genetic qualities of the male.
But does religion really work as an amplifier for male sex appeal? Euler has already discovered a few indications that support his hypothesis: "By cultural comparison, it can be established that men practice religion more in form of public rituals, while women are more likely to worship in private" In plain English: Men shout their faith from the housetops, while women pray more quietly and devotionally. Also, most religions and sects have been founded by men in their prime reproductive age (think of Jesus!), while, according to several surveys, women show more pronounced spiritual inclinations.
Do the Psalms really have the same roots as the songs of the Rolling Stones? If Euler's theory is correct, the monotheistic faiths, with their anti-sex and misogynistic tendencies, have become far removed from their frivolous roots. And with celibacy, Catholics have turned the dynamics upside down: Here, sexual advertising has mutated into a deterrent. Though, even there the devil may have a finger in the pie: The percentage of homosexuals among Catholic priests is estimated by experts at 23 or 58 percent.
Euler considerations do, at least, possess a certain charm. Not the least because they throw a new light on the legendary question Gretchen raises in Goethe's "Faust" - "How do you feel about religion?" And they may explain why even atheists cannot help groaning "Oh God" when reaching orgasm.
More good stuff on sex:
When sex goes stale through repetition:
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/YqmDFX693No
No escape from a sex starved world
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/WDdfnJrFyvD
If there was a God, the clitoris would sit in the vagina
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/SvbafxqB7Se
Pleasures of the flesh – and of the palate
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/WBT9983to2p
Sex under false pretenses
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/GrRkVoqAdXu
Sodom and Kandahar: How the invisibility of adult women leads to sick twists in male sexuality
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/4vLM6oMXduR
Maybe religion does have an evolutionary origin after all - as an instrument of courtship
It seems the announcement of the imminent demise of God has been greatly exaggerated - religion and spirituality are alive and kicking. If things go really awry, we may even soon be living in a religious caliphate, with a lot of heads missing. And evolutionary psychologists are speculating vocally about the existence of an innate "God instinct" that allegedly helped our ancestors in the struggle for existence and procreation. But psychologist Harald Euler from Essen Polytechnic in Germany favors a different theory about the origin of faith, which is likely to inconvenience the clergy as badly as the prospect of an injection of holy water would disturb the devil. Euler's core message: Religion came into being as a tool for courtship - with the goal of increasing the prospect of copulation!
If religion really represented the solution to a problem of survival, then evolution should have enforced a certain optimal variant - just as with our hand and heart, which look about the same for everyone. Instead, there is an incredible variety of spiritual forms that have surprisingly little in common. In addition, the most serious exercise of religious practices requires a significant commitment and can hardly be done on the fly. But according to the theory of evolution, only those characteristics endure that help their carriers survive and spread their genes.
Would it not be more effective to build dams and irrigation systems, rather than tediously plead hearing impaired deities for rain? And why should patients be content with the hope for spiritual healing if they could also search for effective medicine at the same time? Euler postulates that religion is merely a demonstrative handicap: "Look, I can afford to be religious. I have so many resources that I can give my time, my blood, my possession abundantly to the deities."
And of course this advertising message is aimed only at one target: sex. The combination of an opulent variety of shapes on the one hand and an handicap on the other makes every connoisseur of Natural History think of the sauciest chapter of the theory of evolution: sexual selection. Because females in the animal kingdom can read out the genetic qualities of male contenders from so-called fitness indicators. These are flamboyant badges, like strikingly colorful ornaments or the peacock's fan, which are rather impractical or even a hindrance to survival. The logic behind this trappings: males which can afford to carry such a ballast signal that they are highly suitable sperm donors.
A few years ago, the American evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller surprised the experts with the proposal to interpret even the products of the human mind as such fitness indicators. Art and music served, at least in the early phase of human evolution, no apparent survival purpose. Instead, they were created for the goal of courting females - as a poster child for the genetic qualities of the male.
But does religion really work as an amplifier for male sex appeal? Euler has already discovered a few indications that support his hypothesis: "By cultural comparison, it can be established that men practice religion more in form of public rituals, while women are more likely to worship in private" In plain English: Men shout their faith from the housetops, while women pray more quietly and devotionally. Also, most religions and sects have been founded by men in their prime reproductive age (think of Jesus!), while, according to several surveys, women show more pronounced spiritual inclinations.
Do the Psalms really have the same roots as the songs of the Rolling Stones? If Euler's theory is correct, the monotheistic faiths, with their anti-sex and misogynistic tendencies, have become far removed from their frivolous roots. And with celibacy, Catholics have turned the dynamics upside down: Here, sexual advertising has mutated into a deterrent. Though, even there the devil may have a finger in the pie: The percentage of homosexuals among Catholic priests is estimated by experts at 23 or 58 percent.
Euler considerations do, at least, possess a certain charm. Not the least because they throw a new light on the legendary question Gretchen raises in Goethe's "Faust" - "How do you feel about religion?" And they may explain why even atheists cannot help groaning "Oh God" when reaching orgasm.
More good stuff on sex:
When sex goes stale through repetition:
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/YqmDFX693No
No escape from a sex starved world
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/WDdfnJrFyvD
If there was a God, the clitoris would sit in the vagina
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/SvbafxqB7Se
Pleasures of the flesh – and of the palate
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/WBT9983to2p
Sex under false pretenses
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/GrRkVoqAdXu
Sodom and Kandahar: How the invisibility of adult women leads to sick twists in male sexuality
https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/4vLM6oMXduR
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