Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
Life

Poor societies more likely to believe in gods

Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Nov, 2014 09:21 AM
    Societies living in harsh environments are more likely to believe in gods, says a study, suggesting that societies with less access to food and water are more likely to believe in them.
     
    "When life is tough or when it is uncertain, people believe in big gods. Pro-social behaviour may help people do well in harsh or unpredictable environments," said Russell Gray, professor at the University of Auckland and founding director of the Max Planck Institute for History and the Sciences in Germany.
     
    Just as physical adaptations help populations prosper in inhospitable habitats, belief in gods might be similarly advantageous for human cultures in poorer environments, found the study, done by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (NESCent) in North Carolina in the US.
     
    Gray and co-authors found a strong correlation between belief in gods who enforce a moral code and other societal characteristics.
     
    They used historical, social and ecological data for 583 societies to illustrate the multifaceted relationship between belief in gods and external variables.
     
    Political complexity - namely a social hierarchy beyond the local community - and the practice of animal husbandry were both strongly associated with a belief in gods.
     
    The emergence of religion has long been explained as a result of either culture or environmental factors but not both.
     
    "The new findings imply that complex practices and characteristics thought to be exclusive to humans arise from a medley of ecological, historical and cultural variables," said Carlos Botero, primary author and researcher from the North Carolina State University.
     
    The study is just the tip of the iceberg in examining human behaviour from a cross-disciplinary standpoint.
     
    The team plans to further explore the processes that have influenced the evolution of other human behaviour including taboos and the modification of natural habitats.
     
    The paper is set to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

    MORE Life ARTICLES

    Are you a narcissist? Read on

    Are you a narcissist? Read on
    To find out if your colleague or friend is a narcissist, you do not require a detailed test or expert's help but to ask a simple question: Are you a narcissist?

    Are you a narcissist? Read on

    Why thinking skills go down with age

    Why thinking skills go down with age
    If your grandparents take a long to recognise known faces from a fleeting glance, that may well signal their declining intelligence....

    Why thinking skills go down with age

    Let workers surf internet to boost productivity

    Let workers surf internet to boost productivity
    The new mantra to boost productivity is: Give your employees internet breaks during work hours to help kids in school homework or pay utility bills and not offline during lunch or coffee breaks....

    Let workers surf internet to boost productivity

    Decoded: How you sniff that jasmine smell

    Decoded: How you sniff that jasmine smell
    Do you know why some people can easily detect faint whiffs of coffee or wine buried amid a plethora of odours? An Indian American researcher says they...

    Decoded: How you sniff that jasmine smell

    Your bed goes beyond just sex and sleep

    Your bed goes beyond just sex and sleep
    But the reality is that consumers have turned their mattresses into reading nooks, home offices, music dens, TV stations and even dining rooms....

    Your bed goes beyond just sex and sleep

    In college and stressed?

    In college and stressed?
    In college and cannot manage stress owing to studies or frequent relationship troubles? Take heart....

    In college and stressed?