How do Religious Stories Help us Secure Long-Term Mates?
Presentation Type
Presentation
Release Option
Event
Description
According to Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural and sexual selection, the ultimate goal of life is survival and reproduction. Why, then, do we tell religious stories when doing so seems relatively costly and useless in evolutionary terms? I will argue that religious stories are simulators that help us practice long-term mating strategies and thereby pass on our genes. That is, humans often engage in long-term mating strategies, and religion promotes traits that are desirable in long-term mates. Therefore, being part of a religion makes a person seem like they have those desirable religious/long-term-mate traits. To help us maintain that appearance, religion provides stories to “practice.” Stories act as simulators through the human brain’s mirror neurons, which are brain cells that mirror actions we hear and see. Since religion promotes long-term mating traits through religious stories, listeners practice the long-term mate traits and can then appear to have those traits in social situations.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Jason Slone
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of Literature
Location
Concurrent Sessions (Room 240)
Symposium Year
2022
How do Religious Stories Help us Secure Long-Term Mates?
Concurrent Sessions (Room 240)
