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The Co-Evolution of Religion with Humans
4 March @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Religion is the one thing that clearly differentiates humans from all other animals. That in itself raises a whole series of questions: Why did religion evolve? When did the capacity for religion first evolve? What cognitive abilities allow humans to be religious but apes not? Is religion at all beneficial?
This talk will examine how religion evolved to help bond unusually large social groups, and became especially important after we started living in increasingly large villages and towns from around 8,000 years ago. Leaving us with one tantalising question: did the Neanderthals die out because they weren’t religious?
