Neurobiology of Religion

According to various theories, religiosity was a by-product of brain development in the course of human evolution. During evolution, the maximum expansion occurred in the neocortex of the brain, which is responsible for self-consciousness, language, emotion and higher-level cognition. There may be a direct relation of religiosity and spiritualism of the Homo species to the increased level of neurological complexity.  Once the brain was large enough, it began to formulate religious and philosophical ideas.

Belief in a superior power (God) is predictable in humans, as it is dependent on mental tools possessed by them. It is suggested that our minds are devised to believe in the existence of a supreme god who possesses the powers of knowledge, strength and immortality.

Even atheism is a belief that people are embracing. A disbelief of God is also a belief in something (science maybe). It is inevitable for humans to beliefs. We all have faith in something or the other. This is because our brain is fashioned to have faith and believe in something.

Proto-Religion

It has been hypothesized, by philosophers and researchers, that, at some unknown time, perhaps in the Paleolithic age, certain groups of hominids developed religious beliefs; rather “proto-religious” beliefs, as a form of adaptation.

“The Proto-Religion was the belief system of human beings at a time (100K BPE) before humanity dispersed from some central point over the earth (presumably Eastern Africa); and ethnic and cultural/linguistic diversification began.”

States the website,

http://www.mega.nu/protolanguage/proto-religion/indexR.html

Their beliefs included spiritualizing the nature and environment, thereby worshiping gifts of nature such as the sun, moon, earth, trees, etc. These beliefs caused groups of people to dance, sing, and worship together, making them more cooperative, unified, and pro-social. Consequently, these groups were more successful than groups, which were not proto-religious.

The only, and ambiguous evidence of religiosity in hominids, was seen in the case of “Homo neanderthalensis” - which are an extinct species in the genus Homo. They contradict to humans, in DNA only by 0.12%. They buried their dead. The use of burial rituals signals towards religious activity.

Except for this, there has been no other evidence of the existence of religion in human culture before humans reached behavioral modernity.

Introduction

The knowledge of the origin of religion is highly inaccurate and inadequate, as no form of information preservation – such as writing – existed at the time. Apparently, the evolution of religion was prior to that of language and writing.

It is assumed by theorists, that the first religions evolved as a response to human fear and mortality (rather, fear of mortality). These were created in order to provide humans and the society, with a sense of security and a command over this overwhelming (yet majestic) world.

As humans evolved, their brain size increased, causing them to wonder about their existence. After failing to reach a legit consensus, it was hypothesized that “SOMEBODY” created them, and for a certain oblivious purpose.

In addition to this, in order for a smooth running of the societies, stories were created, that would probably attempt to explain the occurrences in the their experience.

These theories, were perhaps brought in by the wise (sages or philosophers), who might in fact, be aware of the truth, but only make up stories, for the simple understanding of laypeople.

How Humans Fabricated GoD - Preface

Every theist would believe with passion, that God has created the entire universe. However, what if I say that we created the God. Perhaps we are the ones who conceptualized the existence of God in the first place and we gave that nonexistent enough power to actually prevail, not in physical form, but mentally or emotionally, inside us.

There is a high possibility that with their evolution from proto-humans to humans, Homo sapiens came across situations they couldn’t explain; yet tried, and came to a consensus that these “supernatural” events are caused by a certain lofty mastermind who, not only crafted us, but also, strategized our preservation and destruction.

During evolution, as their brain size increased, Homo sapiens began to question their existence. They started wondering who their creator was, why do they exist, and what awaits their future.

In order to substantiate my belief, I researched about the evolution and origin of religion, and denounced that my theory – that had already been theorized by the wiser – was bona fide.

 Here is an extract from a text, I read on the Internet.

“Anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, and other researchers have reached a near consensus that humans of the species homo sapiens evolved from a species of proto-humans who originated somewhere in Africa. Their internal brain structure represented a major advance over those of previous animals in terms of its flexibility, its ability to reason, and its ability to plan for the future. This gave proto-humans an improved ability to pass on their accumulated knowledge to their descendants, to form more advanced societies, and ultimately to create religions.”

-       A website about religion

(http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_theory1.htm)