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Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods : Early Humans and the Origins of Religion by E. Fuller Torrey (2019, Trade Paperback)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherColumbia University Press

ISBN-100231183372

ISBN-139780231183376

eBay Product ID (ePID)27038256431

Product Key Features

Number of Pages312 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameEvolving Brains, Emerging Gods : Early Humans and the Origins of Religion

Publication Year2019

SubjectCognitive Science, Neuroscience, Theism, Neuropsychology, Philosophy

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaReligion, Science, Psychology, Medical

AuthorE. Fuller TOR REY

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight16.6 Oz

Item Length8.9 in

Item Width5.9 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

Dewey Edition23

ReviewsTorrey takes readers on a grand tour of what science has learned about early hominins and the development of several early civilizations. One may not agree, but the book is richly rewarding...Highly recommended., A wonderful addition to the current corpus sitting at the intersection of religion and evolution. It will be helpful for the scholar and layperson alike., In Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods , E. Fuller Torrey offers a scholarly and insightful treatise on the neuroscientific relationship between humanity and deities. In his twenty-first book, one senses a profound vision of the hereafter in the arc of this eminent mental health advocate and researcher's career, from whom we hope there will be more to come., Presented in a manner that is accessible to nonscientists....[an] insightful, thought-provoking work., A masterful synthesis that merges the archaeological and anthropological evidence for the evolving elaboration of religious activity with the fossil evidence for the neurobiological evolution of the human brain and the psychological evidence for the evolution of the human mind housed within that evolving brain., This is the book I have been waiting for, which brings together all of the various strands of data and ideas gathering in neuroscience, sociology, psychology, archaeology, anthropology, and brain development, and integrates them into a well-balanced and tightly presented theory of the origins of religion., This is the book I have been waiting for, which brings together all of the various strands of data and ideas gathering in neuroscience, sociology, psychology, archaeology, anthropology and brain development, and integrates them into a well-balanced and tightly presented theory of the origins of religion.

Dewey Decimal200.1

Table Of ContentPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: The Brain, Home of the Gods Part 1. The Making of the Gods 1. Homo habilis : A Smarter Self 2. Homo erectus : An Aware Self 3. Archaic Homo sapiens (Neandertals): An Empathic Self 4. Early Homo sapiens : An Introspective Self 5. Modern Homo sapiens : A Temporal Self Part 2. The Emergence of the Gods 6. Ancestors and Agriculture: A Spiritual Self 7. Governments and Gods: A Theistic Self 8. Other Theories of the Origins Of Gods Appendix A: The Evolution of the Brain Appendix B: Dreams as Proof of the Existence of a Spirit World and Land of the Dead Notes Index

SynopsisReligions and mythologies from around the world teach that God or gods created humans. Atheist, humanist, and materialist critics, meanwhile, have attempted to turn theology on its head, claiming that religion is a human invention. In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging, primatology, and child development studies, this book traces how new cognitive abilities gave rise to new behaviors. For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments. This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries., E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution.