Religion, Human Evolution, and the Genetic Basis of Religion?
Some writers have proposed that religion may have affected human evolution and that religious beliefs may even have a genetic basis. This is my comment on such proposals.
Religious beliefs may well have been advantageous to us humans in our evolution, but only to the extent that such beliefs have made a positive difference in the reproductive success of members of human groups. The positive difference would be that female members of a group whose members share specific religious beliefs have more children than those in other groups, and/or that more children survive to reproductive age in such groups than in other groups. Whether such positive effects occur is an empirical question and may well differ from group to group depending on their specific religious beliefs. It is well-known that some religions encourage reproduction while others discourage reproduction and promote celibacy.
The effects of religious beliefs on reproductive success can be due to their direct effects on the reproductive behavior of individual members of the group who hold those beliefs, or the effects can be indirect, resulting from group decisions that affect the reproductive behavior and survival of members of the group. Reproduction can be voluntary or coerced, and survival of an individual to reproductive age depends as much on group…
