WE DIDN’T EVOLVE THE NEED FOR RELIGION, WE HAVEN’T EVOLVED BEYOND IT. THE QUESTI

WE DIDN’T EVOLVE THE NEED FOR RELIGION, WE HAVEN’T EVOLVED BEYOND IT. THE QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE MODERN VERSION OF THAT WHICH WE ACHIEVED THROUGH RELIGION?

—“It appears that humans have evolved a hardwired tendency to be religious. No doubt because it unified groups & helped them conquer less religious competitors. A wise society will control & channel that tendency to benefit itself.”—Steve Schneider

The other way around. We evolved from animals that hunted by running in packs. individuals surrender to the pack. We receive endorphins for doing so and lighten the burden of cognition through distribution. We retain that. We feel ’empty’ or ‘lost’ without that. Yet the division of knowledge labor and advocacy forces us into increasingly isolated roles where we are increasingly dependent upon reason.

All social festivals, feasts, myths, and rituals assist us in preserving that experience across large numbers of us.

and fills us with elation.

EVOLUTION:

1. HUNTING-GATHERING (BAND)

2. RITUALS AND MYTHS (AND FIRE) (TRIBE)

3. FESTIVALS, RITUALS AND MYTHS

4. LAWS, FESTIVALS, RITUALS AND MYTHS

5. INSTITUTIONS, LAWS, FESTIVALS, RITUALS, AND MYTHS

RELIGION IS OUR METHOD OF REGAINING THE FREEDOM FROM REASON, THE ELATION OF SAFETY, IN SUBMISSION TO THE THRONG WHILE RUNNING WITH THE PACK. – THE ABANDONMENT OF COSTLY REASON THAT INCREASINGLY OCCUPIES OUR LIVES.