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December 2021

December 20, 2021

The Natural History of Music

I’m teaching a course on the evolution of music through Scholarium in January and February. Or,...

August 2021

August 31, 2021

Faith and the Evolutionary Predicament

The "scientific image" of humans offered by evolutionary biology is cold, impersonal, alienating…and objective. But...

June 2021

June 14, 2021

Music and Dance in Human Evolution

Humans everywhere play music and dance. But other animals don't — so where did these...

October 2020

October 29, 2020

Is Your Society Good for (Biological) Fitness?

Back in September, I described a computer model my collaborator Rich Sosis and I built...

May 2020

May 18, 2020

The Natural Origins of Obligation

The evolutionary developmental psychologist Michael Tomasello argues that, while other animals experience sympathy, the specific...

March 2020

March 06, 2020

The Coronavirus Outbreak Shows the Dangers of Social Hypercoherence

Globalization: it may be a 2000s buzzword, but it’s brought the world many benefits. Our...

September 2019

September 25, 2019

Is Morality About Cooperation?

If there’s one thing nearly all people can agree on, it’s that some actions are...

March 2019

March 08, 2019

A Big Weekend in Boston

Religion is a complicated nut to crack. It encompasses some of the most private and...

September 2018

September 29, 2018

Cooperation Thrives When We (Mostly) Prefer People We Already Know

Despite how it may seem, we humans are extraordinarily good at cooperation. We take care...

August 2018

August 30, 2018

Fun Conference Recap: The International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion 2018

A lot of science happens when scientists are alone. There are the late nights coding...

May 2018

May 17, 2018

Why Do Societies Differ Psychologically?

A team of psychologists think that behavioral ecology can help us understand why Westerners think...

April 2018

April 18, 2018

Why Is Shamanism So Common?

A few years back, I wrote a post here called “Spirit Possession: Everyone’s Doing It.”...

February 2018

February 28, 2018

Why I Left the Humanities for the Sciences

I didn’t start out as a scientist. As an undergraduate, I majored in English,...

February 18, 2016

Why symbols matter for homo sapiens

You want lots of collective investment in the tribe? Then you need a tight and...

May 2015

May 20, 2015

Religion and evolution, part deux

Rollicking debates about evolutionary theory are crucial for understanding how religion evolved – because many...

April 2015

April 16, 2015

Is religion evolutionarily adaptive?

Darwinian evolution is amoral. Evolutionary adaptations are often extremely nasty. Genetically maladaptive behavior can be...

July 2014

July 14, 2014

The Wave of the Future: Experimental Religious Studies

Ted Slingerland's work at UBC-Vancouver shows that the scientific study of religion has undergone a...

June 2014

June 28, 2014

How do we make meaning of evolution? By admitting its uncomfortable truths.

the most vital trait of evolution is also its most difficult: there’s no purpose in...

January 2014

January 13, 2014

My employer: The Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion

The Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion, also known as IBCSR, is an independent...

December 2013

December 31, 2013

Farewell to Ian Barbour

Ian Barbour, the physicist and religious studies scholar who passed away at the end of...

December 13, 2013

Inclusive fitness, models, and religious evolution

New research in evolutionary theory sheds light on a long-simmering debate in the scientific study...

September 2013

September 04, 2013

Ritual creates tribes…and tribalism

In a lot of ways religion is a Catch-22. It primes us to be strongly...

May 2013

May 17, 2013

Why the Templeton Foundation Is a Darn Good Thing

Physicist Sean Carroll recently made a splash across the Internet by proclaiming that he'll never...

January 2013

January 04, 2013

Interview: Michael Ruse on Evolution, Creationism, and Religion

Daniel Ansted, contributor to ScienceOnReligion.org, recently conducted an interview with his former mentor and well-known...

October 2012

October 08, 2012

Creation and science: An interview with Karl Giberson

I'll start with my complaint about Seven Glorious Days: while it's a fun read and...

October 02, 2012

Patheos Book Discussion: Seven Glorious Days

Can scientific and religious accounts of cosmic creation be reconciled? Karl W. Giberson thinks they...

July 2012

July 19, 2012

The evolution of atheism

What’s the evolutionary purpose of atheists? Political scientist Dominic Johnson suggests no less than 10...

May 2012

May 14, 2012

Atheism: a personality profile

Jonathan Morgan For half a decade, the cognitive science of religion has sought the evolutionary...

April 2012

April 24, 2012

Disgusting religion

Connor Wood When you think of the word “religion,” what comes to mind? Candles flickering...

March 2012

March 23, 2012

Darwinism: It’s true. But it ain’t pretty

Connor Wood For the scientifically literate, few things are as confusing as the persistent, even...