Here’s mine – I tried to submit about four times and got ‘error updating database’ each time so…I’m not really sure what to do about that. Also yes, I know, needs more refs.
A Map Out of Eden: How evolutionary theory can be used to trace change in religious ideologies
I am interested in examining whether evolutionary theory can be applied to document the changes in religious institutions and ideals over time. While some work has been done relating evolution and religion, much of it has been in the field of evolutionary psychology, in trying to discern the adaptive role of religion in terms of biology and psychology, rather than examining religions themselves (Sosis and Alcora 2003). A small amount has also been done in the newer field of memetics, treating religious beliefs as a type of meme (Rachlin, 2007), but evolutionary theory hasn’t been directly to religion without the somewhat undefined intermediary of the meme. For example, does the geographic split between the Eastern and Western Orthodox churches represent a form of selection? Can we apply the concept of lateral gene transfer – the idea that genetic information can be transmitted to peers rather than to descendants – to ideas? Given these things, is it then possible to construct phylogenies of religious sects based on when a given theory was accepted or rejected by the sects? To answer these questions, I plan on examining major theological schisms in Christianity and the historical events that lead to them, to see if a historical map of the branchings can be constructed. I am particularly interested in dealing with Christianity as a model, because it’s large, with a long history, and has had a large number of idealogical schisms over that history, resulting in a a multitude of sects which share some central ideals but are otherwise very diverse, to the point of seeming like entirely different religions to outsiders.
Rachlin, Howard. ‘Cui bono? A Review of ‘Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon’ by Daniel C. Dennett’. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour. 87 (2007): 143–149
Sosis, Richard and Candace Alcora. ‘Signaling, solidarity, and the sacred: The evolution of religious behavior’ Evolutionary anthropology. 12.6 (2003)
2 replies on “MURC proposal”
Ruth – In this case, you could consider e-mailing your MURC application and proposal directly to Dr. Sonja Embree, Assoc. Director of URO at sonja.embree@ubc.ca.
Comments on your proposal:
1. Insert the word “applied” between “directly” and “to” in the sentence “—- but evolutionary theory hasn’t been directly to religion —–“.
2. You might want to add a couple of more references especially on the evolution of religious sects.
I know you’re interested in Christianity, but Foltz, Richard C. 1999. “Religions of the Silk Road.” New York: St. Martin’s Press may be of interest to you. It covers the spread of Buddhism and Islam along the Silk Road and why relgions (he makes a metaphor to organisms) must adapt in order to succeed, which explains why China was pretty resistant to Christian influence since Buddhist concepts had already set in and were more related to their original folk ideas.