In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion

@book{atran2002inw, abstract = {"With almost 1000 references and discussions of most of human history and culture, from Neanderthal burials to suicide-bombers in the Palestinian anti-colonialist struggle, this book is consciously and truly encyclopedic in scope, and shows both breadth and depth of scholarship...the reader finds himself constantly challenged and provoked into an intellectual ping-pong game as he follows the arguments and the huge body of findings marshalled to buttress them...Atran managed to combine the old and the new by relating the automatic cognitive operations to existential anxieties. This combination will be a benchmark and a challenge to students od religion in all disciplines."--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, Human Nature Review "In Gods We Trust is by far the best exploration so far of the evolutionary basis of religious behavior."--James Fox, Prof of Anthropology, Stanford University "Scott Atran, a cognitive anthropologist and psychologist, presents in this volume a rich, nuanced cognitive-evolutionary account of religion...From this vantage, religion is not doctrine, or institutions, or even faith. Religion ensues from the ordinary workings of the human mind as it deals with emotionally compelling problems of human existence, such as birth, aging, death, unforeseen calamities, and love...I have little but praise for this marvelous book...It does not take long to realize that one is dealing with a formidable mind; Atran is not only a fine writer, his breadth of knowledge and intellectual depth are nothing short of inspiring. This book is one to read slowly and savor. Keep a post-it pad handy, to mark the pages: the scope of this book is so wide-ranging that whatever your research interest in evolutionary psychology, it is bound to be touched upon at some point in these 400 pages of informative analysis."--Human Nature Review "It is one thing to ascribe the ubiquity of religious systems to their emotional, intellectual, social and survival consequences, but such explanations apply also to many other aspects of human social systems. They do not account for religious commitment to factually impossible and counter-intuitive worlds. How can it be that human minds, evolved to cope with the real world, can hold beliefs that are patently improbable? Scott Atran, who has wide experience as a cognitive psychologist, field anthropologist and philosopher, focuses on the properties of the human mind and human needs that lead to religion's appeal. Thereby he takes much further previous explanations of how religious systems make the acceptance of improbable entities possible... [His] approach must be incorporated into all future studies of the genesis of religious systems."--Robert Hinde, The Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion}, author = {Atran, Scott}, citeulike-article-id = {1003486}, keywords = {cognition, cognitive, evolution, religion}, posted-at = {2006-12-20 12:53:05}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion}, url = {http://crispin.jot.com/WikiHome/Content/Notes/2006-12-20-InGodsWeTrustTheEvolutionaryLandscapeOfReligion}, year = {2002} }

TY - BOOK ID - atran2002inw L3 - citeulike-article-id:1003486 N2 - "With almost 1000 references and discussions of most of human history and culture, from Neanderthal burials to suicide-bombers in the Palestinian anti-colonialist struggle, this book is consciously and truly encyclopedic in scope, and shows both breadth and depth of scholarship...the reader finds himself constantly challenged and provoked into an intellectual ping-pong game as he follows the arguments and the huge body of findings marshalled to buttress them...Atran managed to combine the old and the new by relating the automatic cognitive operations to existential anxieties. This combination will be a benchmark and a challenge to students od religion in all disciplines."--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, Human Nature Review "In Gods We Trust is by far the best exploration so far of the evolutionary basis of religious behavior."--James Fox, Prof of Anthropology, Stanford University "Scott Atran, a cognitive anthropologist and psychologist, presents in this volume a rich, nuanced cognitive-evolutionary account of religion...From this vantage, religion is not doctrine, or institutions, or even faith. Religion ensues from the ordinary workings of the human mind as it deals with emotionally compelling problems of human existence, such as birth, aging, death, unforeseen calamities, and love...I have little but praise for this marvelous book...It does not take long to realize that one is dealing with a formidable mind; Atran is not only a fine writer, his breadth of knowledge and intellectual depth are nothing short of inspiring. This book is one to read slowly and savor. Keep a post-it pad handy, to mark the pages: the scope of this book is so wide-ranging that whatever your research interest in evolutionary psychology, it is bound to be touched upon at some point in these 400 pages of informative analysis."--Human Nature Review "It is one thing to ascribe the ubiquity of religious systems to their emotional, intellectual, social and survival consequences, but such explanations apply also to many other aspects of human social systems. They do not account for religious commitment to factually impossible and counter-intuitive worlds. How can it be that human minds, evolved to cope with the real world, can hold beliefs that are patently improbable? Scott Atran, who has wide experience as a cognitive psychologist, field anthropologist and philosopher, focuses on the properties of the human mind and human needs that lead to religion's appeal. Thereby he takes much further previous explanations of how religious systems make the acceptance of improbable entities possible... [His] approach must be incorporated into all future studies of the genesis of religious systems."--Robert Hinde, The Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion TI - In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion PB - Oxford University Press KW - cognition KW - cognitive KW - evolution KW - religion AU - Atran, Scott PY - 2002/// UR - http://crispin.jot.com/WikiHome/Content/Notes/2006-12-20-InGodsWeTrustTheEvolutionaryLandscapeOfReligion ER -