Comments on: Who Dares to Speak of Easter Week?

By: Amardeep Singh

Amardeep Singh — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 23:14:50 +0000

Actually your first two examples (rambling radio preacher, incompetent pseudo-journalistic documentary) tell us more about the failure of American society to meaningfully engage with its fountains of chaotic religiosity than they do about evolutionary psychology. (*Unless I’m missing the point, which is entirely possible*) Perhaps South Park has evolved as an adaptive mechanism for those of us who don’t understand a) the appeal of American evangelicalism or b) the failure of journalism to evaluate facticity on any matter whatsoever?

By: Strange

Strange — Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:53:29 +0000

Speaking of evolutionary psych and religion, have you read Atran’s missive on the evolution of religion? It embodies all the problems you’ve mentioned about evolutionary psych.

By: P O'Neill

P O'Neill — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 23:06:45 +0000

If your title means to have a little Irish reference in there, don’t you mean “Who FEARS to speak of Easter Week?”

By: Realish

Realish — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 22:45:14 +0000

My boy just reached 7 months, Kieren—you have much to look forward to. Watching a little creature sit up and start to move around and intensely absorb and make sense of their environment really makes any and all simplistic gene vs. environment arguments taste like thin gruel.

By: ogged

ogged — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 16:14:07 +0000

Daughter? Congratulations!

By: david

david — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 14:22:04 +0000

Sorry, KH. Yours was funny, but Cosma’s funnier still.

By: Cosma

Cosma — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 14:14:11 +0000

Actually, there’s a rather well-worked-out theory of religion in the evolutionary psychology literature according to which it is not adaptive, but rather a side-effect of a number of (specific) adaptations. Probably the best summary is Scott Atran’s In Gods We Trust.