a post by Viatcheslav Wlassoff for the World of Psychology blog
We are the only species on the planet known to practice religion. This behavior is universal: there is no nation on Earth that does not practice one or another form of spiritual belief.
The question is what makes our brain different so that we practice spirituality? Does religion serve any purpose in terms of benefiting our survival and progress? These questions are very philosophical. Many thinkers believe that religiosity is what distinguishes Homo sapiens from the rest of the animal kingdom, and brought our species to dominate this planet. On the other hand, a large numbers of thinkers believe that religion impedes progress and keeps our society in a barbaric state.
There is no doubt that religion played a very important role in early human history: providing the first explanations for the existence of the world around us. The need for such explanation highlights an important step in the development of the brain and cognitive processes.
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I would love to know whether by brain is significantly different in any way from the brain of my sister who became "ultra" religious quite early on in life, or what the brain of my elder daughter can tell us about her non-belief in as spiritual life and so on.
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