[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][12.29]

123runfordreamUID：2697608

关于REBORN FROM THE ASHES组COMMENTS活动的说明&汇总 https://bbs.gter.net/thread-1042733-1-2.html

An evolutionary biologist on religion

Spirit level
Dec 17th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Why the human race has needed religion to survive

Alamy
The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures. By Nicholas Wade. Penguin Press; 310 pages; $25.95. Buy from Amazon.com


WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere. And in the final lines of his densely but skilfully packed account of faith from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology, Nicholas Wade recalls the place where he first felt sanctity: Eton College chapel.

The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times. To examine the roots of religion, he says, it is important to look at human beginnings. The customs of hunter-gatherer peoples who survived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms: the ecstasy of dusk-to-dawn tribal dances, for example.

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacred also came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying: “nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving in hideous harmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

And that controversy leads to another one. Does Darwinian selection take place at the level only of individuals, or of groups as well? As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection. Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail over those which lacked these advantages.

Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly castes tried to monopolise access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.

Still, the modifications that religion has undergone should not, in Mr Wade’s view, distract from the study of faith’s basic functions. In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made. Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose style which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history. Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites.

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew the ecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour. In Imperial Russia, Peter the Great tried to pull the Russian Orthodox church from the former extreme to the latter: to curb its love of rite and mystery and make it more of a moral agency like the Lutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed. Russians liked things mystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As well as giving an elegant summary of modern thinking about religion, Mr Wade also offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism. He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history. He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. In their view, Islam is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of Arabia”, as the Muslim version of sacred history teaches.

At times, the book stumbles. In describing the interplay between Hellenic and Hebrew culture at the dawning of Christianity, Mr Wade makes exaggerated claims. He says there is no basis for a mother-and-child cult in the religion of Israel. In fact there are many references in the Hebrew scriptures to the Messiah and his mother; the Dead Sea Scrolls have made this even clearer. And his micro-history of Christian theology is inaccurate in places.

These objections aside, this is a masterly book. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history. It also helps explain a quest for collective ecstasy that can take myriad forms. Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.

http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15124974&source=most_commented

splendidsunUID：2723757

赞~~~

12-29
Comment：
Today’s topic is very fresh and familiar to me at the same time. This essay introduces a book The Faith Instinct to us. The author, Mr. Wade, masterly combines the study of religion with evolutionary biology to explain his viewpoint. He cites the theory of Darwin and applies it to human society. In my opinion, the evolution of society is similar to the evolution of individuals more or less. In the wild, different kinds of creatures change their physical structure or living habits in order to adapt the surroundings. People are struggling for surviving in this competitive society. Religion could give supports to people who need help to overcome psychological difficulties and cheer them up. Although almost all religions are concerned in vary degrees with metaphysical ideas, I don’t think it is controversial with science. As I know, many thoughts and sayings in different religions are very useful, which may guide us behave properly. The function of different religions share one point is that they could help people increase the quality of lives as expected.

Useful words and phrases:
endure 忍耐，持续
analyst分析师
sanctity圣洁，神圣
Eton College 伊顿公学
chapel小教堂
be a far cry from 与……大不相同，两码事
hunter-gatherer狩猎采集者
ecstasy狂喜
dusk-to-dawn黄昏到黎明
primordial原始的
blazing fire 烈火
hideous 可怕的
side with 支持，站在……一边
propensity倾向性，偏好
prevail over 胜过
The advent of ……的出现
priestly castes 僧侣的世袭社会等级
monopolise垄断
divine神圣的，非凡的
limpid 清澈的，透明的，平静的
prose散文
metaphysical形而上学的
norm规范
hidebound死板的，墨守成规的
Puritans清教徒
eschew避开，避免，躲避
transcendental超越的，超自然的
Protestant清教徒
obsession困扰
curb抑制，控制
provocative刺激的，挑拨的
monotheism一神论
endorse认同，赞可
Islam伊斯兰教
dissident 持不同意见者
stumble使困惑
Hebrew scriptures 希伯来圣经
masterly 巧妙的

WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere.
这个句子中lead用的好精准~~喜欢~
It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history.

zhengchangdianUID：2563082

小C辛苦啦:lol
今天终于努力看完，小C选的文章真好呀！

Comment：

This is really a new, mystical and unknown sphere for me.

Only if religion enhances a group’s survival can it have power over the individuals and be preserved in the long course of history as the author claims. It emphasizes both the ruthlessness to outsiders and the individual sacrifice for the religious group.

This characteristic of religion—the so-called adaptive function—has similar natures to numerous organizations, such as family and social class. It is primarily through our identification with these social groups that we define ourselves. In other words, one’s identity keeps changing when he belongs to different units. The fact that mankind have no fixed status leads to the momentary identity. At the same time, one would like to accentuate his sense of belonging when he involves in a specific group. For example, one would unconsciously speak a dialect when he gets together with his countryman.

In sum, one tends to define himself through the social group he involves in and make decisions depending on his role in the group. Above all, no one is capable of surviving without the guideline of any group.

windandrain2004UID：2597690

占楼

plukaUID：2721764

NOTE
And in the final lines of his densely but skilfully packed account of faith from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology, Nicholas Wade recalls the place where he first felt sanctity: Eton College chapel.

The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times.
...witnessed religion at its most primordial when he went to Australia in 1836.
he sides with（站在同一边） those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function.
Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. 

Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail over those which lacked these advantages.
Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly castes tried to monopolise access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.
Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. 

==============================

COMMENT
Consistently have I found religion, anthropology and archeology entrancing. Their quests are either intangible or remote;their methodology involves both large-scale operation like excavation and subtle distinction of the texture of fabric or minor finding on the coner of a premordial mural;their fruition, drawn reasonably and logically from every detail, seems sometimes extremely unthinkable and fantastic. Those works combine observation and speculation, solid confirmation and wild venture, timid introspection and bold prediction in such a way that differ greatly from other scientific subjects. 

Once I wondered how a empyreal spiritual quest can be studied in material way, I mean, in a way based on solid tangible matters and achieved through down-to-earth reseach. Gradually, then, I realize the impulse behind. Materialism do reveal sth: all spirits, whatever the scope or participators, stem from this very material world. Art and religion come from brain, and brain comprises cells; soul and heart thus enter the realm of science. 

In the belief of the inherent connection between spirit and material, my mind echoes with the idea of faith's funtion suggested by Mr Wade. Anyway, nothing comes for nothing and all have their reason to exist. 

This article presents am intriguing topic. It elicits some ideas, and this would be good for issue writing~ 

fancywwUID：2583671

My comment：

This article may drive some people crazy I think. And I am one of them. So I tried my best to figure it out, and here goes my comment.

This article is a review about the book How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures by Nicholas Wade.

First, the article mentions the place where the author's idea about sanctity comes from. Coincidentally,  Darwin also got his idea of sacred from a private school. And both Wade and Darwin thought that the study of the origin of religion should start with the examination of human's beginning.

Next the article summarizes the main view point of Mr Wade's book. In the book, Mr Wade believes that the reason why faith has persisted for thousands of years is that it helps human race to survive. So according to this notion, Darwinian selection takes place at the level of group as well. While the article affirms and appreciates the well made arguments in the book, as well as the clear and limpid style, the article does point out the shortness of the book in oversimplifying the link between rules and ecstatic rites.

Then the article makes some points on the intensive relationship between moral and ecstasy in some great religions. After a brief introduce of the matter, the article sites the research of Max Weber to show the contradictions between moral and ecstasy. And here comes my confusion. Without some background knowledge on religion, I can hardly understand the relationship of moral and ecstasy they are talking about. Nor can I see the weakness of Mr Wade's book on this issue.

And next, the article summarizes his view on monotheism. From the evaluation I can see that Mr Wade's view is quite provocative, radical, and daring. Again, I have nothing to comment on this point due to lack of relative knowledge. Following this summery, the article points another weakness of the book.

At last, the article gives the book a quite high evaluation. I believe at the end the article makes a joke about Mr Wade's autobiographical reference to Eton. However, I cannot understand. What a pity on the difference of culture background.

vocabulary：
primordial
:the rudiment or commencement of a part or organ

religious ecstasy is an altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is frequently accompanied by visions and emotional/intuitive (and sometimes physical) euphoria. Although the experience is usually brief in physical time, there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during one's lifetime. Subjective perception of time, space and/or self may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy.

hideous : 1 : offensive to the senses and especially to sight  : exceedingly ugly
2 : morally offensive  : SHOCKING
Hymns:a song of praise to God
Muddy:1 : to soil or stain with or as if with mud
2 : to make turbid
3 : to make cloudy or dull
4 : CONFUSE
Priestly:祭司
Caste：种姓
Limpid：1 a : marked by transparency  : PELLUCID  *limpid streams*  b : clear and simple in style  *limpid prose*
2 : absolutely serene and untroubled
Protestant：新教
Rite:the ceremonial practices of a church or group of churches
Monotheism: 一神教
Dissident: disagreeing especially with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief
Hellenic and Hebrew:希腊和希伯来
Messiah：弥赛亚

tequilawineUID：2702008

sanctity 圣洁 a far cry from遥远的距离 大部相同的东西 tribal 部落的种族的 primordial原始的 hideous骇人听闻的 可怕的 side with 与某人站在同一边 有同样的见解  propensity倾向 is convinced that 确信 承认 prevail over 胜过  divine神的 神圣的 ecstasy入迷   limpid 清澈的
1 Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites. 不错的插入语
2 All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience.
3 Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour.作者想对比什么呢？
4 He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history.
5 He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. 感觉有讽刺
6 Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.
The Eton Boating Song is the best known of the school songs associated with Eton College that are sung at the end of year concert and on other important occasions. It is also played during the procession of boats. The words of the song were written by William Johnson Cory, an influential Master at the school. The melody was composed by an Old Etonian and former pupil of Cory, Capt. Algernon Drummond and transcribed by T. L. Mitchell-Innes. The piano accompaniment was written by Evelyn Wodehouse.[1] It was first performed on 4 June 1863. Contrary to popular belief however, it is not the school song, that being Carmen Etonense.

commet

No matter whether you ever think of this question before, just for fun or research, the author did bring us an approach to the entrancing world. With his clear mind and limpid prose style, we were guided almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history.
In fact, sometimes the moral and the mystical have been intension, which seems like you can’t eat your cakes and have it. Mr Wade proved his deduction fairly, quoting Max Weber’s famous achievements and imperial Russian attempt, both in theory and practice,
At times, the book stumbles. It has some fallacies in places, trying to explain his standpoint with less convincing evidence, in some way, making people more dubious.
These objections aside, this is a masterly book. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history. And the book shold add more magnetic autobiographical  stuff.

doodaUID：2712643

Comment:

This literary criticism focus on Mr. Nicholas Wade’s book which mainly research on religion. From examining the roots of religion and then come to religion’s significance to humankinds -
‘In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival’. Mr Wade quotes controversies of evolutionary biologists about the religion’s function and meaning during the development of human society to argue how religion helps human survive.

The writer is not absolutely accept all of declarations of the author. Those ideas like when describing the interplay between Hellenic and Hebrew culture at the dawning of Christianity. But the critics gave out a positive comment as a whole of the book and conceded it’s a masterly book and the variety of samples when making argument, like explain a quest for collective ecstasy.

Something our domestic literary criticism need to learn from this article is when they got invitation to introduce a book, they should have some background knowledge about the book’s main concept and then read it dialectically not just fully accept or strongly recommended. Both negative and positive comments should be given out so that the readers can digest the book with arguments. That will be real value of the criticism.



Highlights:


WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere. And in the final lines of his densely but skilfully packed account of faith from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology, Nicholas Wade recalls the place where he first felt sanctity: Eton College chapel.

The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times. To examine the roots of religion, he says, it is important to look at human beginnings. The customs of hunter-gatherer peoples who survived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms: the ecstasy 入迷的of dusk-to-dawn tribal 部落的dances, for example.

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacred神的，宗教的 also came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial原始的 when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying: “nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving in hideous可怕的,讨厌的
丑恶的 harmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity嗜好
习性 for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

And that controversy争论 leads to another one. Does Darwinian selection take place at the level only of individuals, or of groups as well? As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion概念 of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection. Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail流行
胜过 over those which lacked these advantages.

Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns赞美诗 圣歌. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly castes tried to monopolise access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy狂喜 激情状态.

Still, the modifications （that religion has undergone ）should not,（in Mr Wade’s view,）distract from转移the study of faith’s basic functions. In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice牺牲 现身 themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made. Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose思路清晰，行文清澈。 style which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history知识史. Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic狂喜的 rites宗教仪式.

All religion is concerned (in varying degrees) with metaphysical ideas, moral norms规范 and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound顽固
狭隘 by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew避开
戒绝 the ecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental超越经验的 feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour. In Imperial Russia, Peter the Great tried to pull the Russian Orthodox church from the former extreme to the latter: to curb its love of rite and mystery and make it more of a moral agency like the Lutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed. Russians liked things mystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As well as giving an elegant summary of modern thinking about religion, Mr Wade also offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism. He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history. He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. In their view, Islam is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of Arabia”, as the Muslim version of sacred history teaches.

At times, the book stumbles. In describing the interplay between Hellenic and Hebrew culture at the dawning of Christianity, Mr Wade makes exaggerated claims. He says there is no basis for a mother-and-child cult in the religion of Israel. In fact there are many references in the Hebrew scriptures to the Messiah and his mother; the Dead Sea Scrolls have made this even clearer. And his micro-history of Christian theology is inaccurate in places.

These objections aside, this is a masterly有水平的 book. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history. It also helps explain a quest for collective ecstasy that can take myriad许多的无数的 forms. Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.

qisaimanUID：2703629

sanctity 神圣
chapel 教堂 礼拜
ecstasy ecstatic 狂喜 狂欢的
primordial ; first created or developed
propensity 嗜好
cohesion 团结 凝聚力
limpid 清晰的
solidarity ：unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards
mystical ：having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence
hidebound  ： having an inflexible or ultraconservative character
eschew ：避开
provocative ：有争论的
endorse ：背书，赞成
proponents ：主张者
dissident ：持不同意见者
cult ：a system of religious beliefs and ritual;  also   : its body of adherents
myriad：无数的。

this article makes a comment on Mr Wade's book, in which a religion issue is delivered. the author 's attitude is mixed with both praise and critique, and it 's difficult to tell which one is more than the other. after an brief introduction of his prospective , there is a rebuttal.

the views of wade :  
it is important to look at human beginnings ,
adaptive function which is contested among evolutionary biologist;
this two points make sense well, while another one ,that the relation between morality and ecstatic rites really confuse me a lot .to demonstrate the relation is oversimplified by wade , the author give an example on the failed revolution carried out by Peter the Great.
I agree that wade is harsh on offer a provocative history of monotheism.

海王泪UID：2673613

My Sum-Up
Spirit Level
An evolutionary biologist on religion
1.Nicholas first felt sanctity at Eton College chapel.
2.Nicholas says it is important to look at human beginning in order to examine the roots of religion. The customs of hunter-gatherer peoples remained give an idea of religion’s first form.
3.Charles Darwin witnessed religion at most primordial form.
4.Wade is convinced that Man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function, while critics suggest that faith is useless(or worse) by-product of human characteristics.
5. Groups with religion were likely to prevail over those without it.
6.The evolution with religion is unclear.
7.Faith’s basic function is making people ready to sacrifice themselves and fight against outsiders. Mr Wade easily guides reader in his book about the intellectual history (though oversimplifying the link between morality and group solidarity.)
8.Ecstasy and moral norms are often in contradiction
9.(Evidence for 8) Russians like rite and mystery
but hate moral rule.
10. Mr Wade offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism about Islam.
11. Sometimes the book stumbles.
12. It is a good book for interdiscipline.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sentence and Phrases
【Phrases】
The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from the sort of religion
A far cry=quite different thing

the ecstasy of dusk-to-dawn tribal dances
dawn to dusk=day and night
dusk to dawn=during all night

Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion.
Be convinced that=believe that
Offer a key to=help solve=give solution (a problem)

Groups wwith religion were likely to prevail over those which lacked these advantages.
Prevail over=defeat=win

the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns.
[History, period, distance]Went through in the journey from…to…=during the history from…to…

The advent of settled led to a new division of labour.
The advent of=arrival=appearance>innovation

Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders.
Make somebody ready to do something=make somebody willing to do something=

He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history.
Endorse=agree with=approve of (someone’s oppinion)

He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names.
Proponent=advocate=supporter

At times, the book stumbles.
At times=several times
Stumbles=puzzle= befog=bewilder=confound=confuse=perplex

【Functional Sentence】
『Call out opposition』
Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested/controversial.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Materials
Topic: What is Religion?
1) Process Analysis (How is X made or done?)
[Defender] Man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function. Faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive.
[Opposition] Faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

2)Classification (What are the types of X)
All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience.
Religion: Metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience.

3)Research Method
It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history.
Interdiscipline for new ideas: An evolutionary biologist on religion thinks religion has some adaptive function as particular faith persisting for helping the human race to survive.

4) Process Analysis (How is X’s Function made or done?)
How do religion help human race survive?
By promoting moral rules and
cementing
cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment
This is an introduction to a book of Nicholas Wade, an evolutionary biologist on religion. His book mainly discuss that there is a natural selection of religions when they help human race better survive in spirit level.

As far as I concern, religion reassure people and thus make available regular production work. People have long been living with dread. At ancient time, horror such as lightning, flood, particular animals always scare human race. Only through two ways, inquiring or superstition, can people overcome their fears. Inquiring to horror, in other words, science, doesn’t always work in short time for the limitation of human capability. Thus we need superstition as transitional reassurance for uncontrolled phenomenon which may psychologically depress us.

With the development of religion, it not only reassure people but also effectively improve morale and fighting capacity of human. Human helds war for resources. Consequently, as what the Mr. Wade says, religion helps particular groups prevail over other groups in our nature. And the religion version of natural selection proceeds.

qisaimanUID：2703629

10# 海王泪

I have saw several comments delivered by you ,and it is helpful, thx.
first , i thought the author is a man,thus "Her book " is not accurate .
second, I wonder how religion help a group to survive while others without  suffer, dose this mean that
in a war ,the religion-armed one take an overwhelming advantage over the latter?

miki7catUID：2533330

My comment

This article introduces a book— named The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures—written by Nicholas Wade. As it lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history, the book should be a masterly one. In addition, I find it creative that explaining the religion’s evolution by analogy with Darwin’s theory of origin of species. This usage of “origin of species” and “natural selection” might be useful to analyze the topics about culture too. However, rather than a writing material, the value of this article is only to provide me with an extended reading. This book aside, any topic relevant to religions continues to confuse me.

An evolutionary biologist on religion
Spirit level
Dec 17th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Why the human race has needed religion to survive

The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures. By Nicholas Wade. Penguin Press; 310 pages; $25.95. Buy from Amazon.com

WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere. And in the final lines of his densely【Something that is dense contains a lot of things or people in a small area.】 but skillfully packed account of faith【A faith is a particular religion, for example Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam.】 from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology, Nicholas Wade recalls the place where he first felt sanctity: Eton College chapel.

The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from【Something that is a far cry from something else is very different from it.】 the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times. To examine the roots of religion, he says, it is important to look at human beginnings. The customs of hunter-gatherer【Hunter-gatherers were people who lived by hunting and collecting food rather than by farming. There are still groups of hunter-gatherers living in some parts of the world.】 peoples who survived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms: the ecstasy【Ecstasy is a feeling of very great happiness.】 of dusk-to-dawn tribal dances, for example.

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacred also came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial【You use primordial to describe things that belong to a very early time in the history of the world. (FORMAL)】 when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying【If you describe something as horrifying, you mean that it is shocking or disgusting.】: “nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving in hideous harmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity【A propensity to do something or a propensity for something is a natural tendency that you have to behave in a particular way. (FORMAL)】 for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

And that controversy leads to another one. Does Darwinian selection take place at the level only of individuals, or of groups as well? As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection. Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail over【~ (against/over sb/sth) (fml 文) fight successfully (against sb/sth); defeat 战胜（某人[某事物]）; 击败】 those which lacked these advantages.

Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly castes tried to monopolise access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.

Still, the modifications that religion has undergone should not, in Mr Wade’s view, distract from【If something distracts you or your attention from something, it takes your attention away from it.】 the study of faith’s basic functions. In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made. Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose style which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history. Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites.

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew【If you eschew something, you deliberately avoid doing it or becoming involved in it. (FORMAL)】 the ecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour. In Imperial Russia, Peter the Great tried to pull the Russian Orthodox church from the former extreme to the latter: to curb its love of rite and mystery and make it more of a moral agency like the Lutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed. Russians liked things mystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As well as giving an elegant summary of modern thinking about religion, Mr Wade also offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism. He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history. He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. In their view, Islam is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of Arabia”, as the Muslim version of sacred history teaches.

At times, the book stumbles. In describing the interplay between Hellenic and Hebrew culture at the dawning of Christianity, Mr Wade makes exaggerated claims. He says there is no basis for a mother-and-child cult in the religion of Israel. In fact there are many references in the Hebrew scriptures to the Messiah and his mother; the Dead Sea Scrolls have made this even clearer. And his micro-history of Christian theology is inaccurate in places.

These objections aside, this is a masterly book. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history. It also helps explain a quest for collective ecstasy that can take myriad forms. Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.

dingyi0311UID：2627919

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience
In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders
Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns
Primordial原始的
Hideous 令人厌恶的
prevail over
false name笔名
Masterly巧妙的
bonding effect

my summery
This is a critique about a book written by Nicholas Wade，a book mainly explain How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures. The author, at the beginning of the article use the darwin’s theory to explain that the religion have its function rather than purely a by product of human character：It must have some adaptive function since religions will not persist for thousands of generations if it is not beneficial for human survival. But this explaination is not that convincing. After all, the author mix the point by using concept from different field. Then, Wade’s book illustrate to as the function of the religion: promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. The critique point out that the relationship between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity in the estacetic rite are oversimplified in the book. Mr Wade also make a provocative claim about monothesis; he hold the view that the story of Jews fighting from Egypt is fake. The critique comment that he is too daring. Besides, another deficient of the book was noted as well, it was supported by Wade that there is no child and mother cult in the religion of Israel, but all evidences point to the other direction. the critique admit that despite his radical view and deficient, it is a masterly book and well worth reading.

adammaksimUID：2675466

Wherever their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere.

be a far cry of 与。。。距离遥远

primordial
adj.最初的，原始的

hideous adj.令人讨厌的

Anglican
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures.
就是英国国教

priestly
adj. 祭司的

Deuteronomist
Deuteronomy
申命记  旧约中一章。。。不知道什么意思

Torah
either to the Five Books of Moses (or Pentateuch) or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts

Puritan 清教徒的

eschew vt.避开，戒绝

Protestant 新教徒

Lutheran a major branch of Western Christianity which identifies with the teachings of the 16th century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation.

monotheism n. 一神论
the belief that only one God exists

Levant  region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Its name derives from the Italian word levante, meaning “rising,” implying the rising of the sun in the east. Historically, the Levant included all of the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece to Egypt. People of Italian or French extraction born in the Levant were sometimes referred to as Levantines. The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I (1914-1918); today the term is still occasionally applied to those two countries.

Hellenic adj.希腊的

Messiah 弥赛亚，救世主

the Dead Sea Scrolls 死海文书 collection of more than 700 Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts discovered in a group of caves near Khirbat Qumrān in Jordan, at the northwestern end of the Dead Sea.

These objections aside, this is a masterly book.

It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history.

comments:
With the profound subject and so many religious terms, this book review totally crushes me down. To begin with a question "Why the human race has needed religion to survive" which seems simple, yet hard to answer for many people like Newton's "Why apple comes to earth?", Wade's book deals with something really obscure for common people. Religion survives just because it help people who have faith in it survive by promoting the group's solidarity. And if religion is useless, it cannot live through thousands of generations. It sounds just like a philosophy claim the existence itself gives reason to existence. To some extent, I’m in favor of Wade’s theory, although this review fails to present us more evidence to support his claim. With no doubt, religions have always played a significant role in human history and modeled our world today. However, I still have question that whether we can come out of a standard to assess the value of different religions based on their usefulness to human societies as we do about the groceries in the shop. I’m curious about the answer.

123runfordreamUID：2697608

12.29
propensity：an often intense natural inclination or preference
ruthlessly：→ruthless： having no pity
Hellenic：of or relating to Greece, its people, or its language specifically : of or relating to ancient Greek history, culture, or art before the Hellenistic period
Hebrew：希伯来人，希伯来语，犹太人;希伯来语的，希伯来人的。
the Messiah：a) Jesus Christ, who Christians believe has been sent by God to save the world from evi；lb) a great religious leader who, according to Jewish belief, will be sent by God to save the world
masterly：having the power and skill of a master


还没查出来的：
felt sanctity
the Dead Sea Scrolls
He says there is no basis for a mother-and-child cult in the religion of Israel.

sides with
his densely but skilfully packed account of

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew the ecstatic.（此段深得我喜爱！）


comments：
Religion is always an area attracting me a lot, because of mysterious. Especially the faith lays muslin or other religions. I was a litter scared when I met one of my friends who is a very sincere Muslim I though it is terrible only because I don’t know it much and had some misunderstanding about it. He told me their family pray five times every day to thank God for giving them such a good life with feeding food and housing place. People believe in god may just want a basis for their emotions. When you suffer a lot, then you survive, you might feel grateful, and think it is all by God’s protect.
Well, back to this article, there is an argument between God create men or the theory of Darwin which is Darwinism. That is the Evolution War happened in the United States. This article is an introduction about a new book on religion. As it is described with modern thinking about religion, I expect and appreciate the work a lot. Hope I have a chance to take a look.