Questions
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guthrieanthrop-2011.pptStewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds
Oxford UP, 1993
- We constantly anthropomorphize
- This is probably a genetic inclination
- It is the source of religious belief
in spirits, gods, God
Stewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds
Oxford UP, 1993
- We constantly anthropomorphize
- This is probably a genetic inclination
- It is the source of religious belief
in spirits, gods, God
Sun god
Germ
“Animism”/ anthropomorphism.
4-6 children suspect computers are alive
because of activity on the screen;
6-8 year olds base it on the fact
that the computer responds actively;
after age 9 some children begin
to wonder whether computers
have feelings.
Sherry Turkle, The Second Self:
Computers and the Human Spirit
(NY: Simon and Schuster, 1984), 324-332
Stewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds
Oxford UP, 1993
- We constantly anthropomorphize
- This is probably a genetic inclination
- It is the source of religious belief
in spirits, gods, God
Stewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds
Oxford UP, 1993
- We constantly anthropomorphize
- This is probably a genetic inclination
- It is the source of religious belief
in spirits, gods, God
Yanomamö
of Brazil/Venezuela
Evolutionary
Psychology
(”sociobiology”
applied to humans)
Genes which aid their
carriers to eat, survive,
and reproduce, get
reproduced.
Stewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds (1993),
and Justin Barrett, Why Would Anyone Believe in God (2004)
Evolutionary Psychology
proposes a genetic basis for any near-universal human behaviors.
Stewart Guthrie observes a near-universal tendency to anthropomorphize
Why do we do this?
Freud et alii said -- for comfort: but the gods or God can be a huge threat.
Barrett & Guthrie – HADD (hyperactive agent detection device)
Those with a genetic
tendency to anthropomorphize
will suspect an “agent” is about
to pounce – and kill?
Yanomamö
of Brazil/Venezuela
Evolutionary
Psychology
(”sociobiology”
applied to humans)
Genes which make
their carriers ready
to anthropomorphize,
by suspecting that the
noise was made by enemies,
will make their carriers
more alert to danger
Yanomamö
of Brazil/Venezuela
Evolutionary
Psychology
(”sociobiology”
applied to humans)
People more alert to danger
will more often survive –
to reproduce. So the
‘anthropomorphizing’
gene gets reproduced.
Alternative explanation: overextension of
“theory of mind”
Also produces tendency to anthropomorphize
-- I.e. to imagine thoughts and intentions
even where we would say there are none.
Alternative explanation: overextension of
“theory of mind”
There are thoughts going on ‘out there’ in people
(or in “things”?) -- which can hurt or help.
Be ready to impute thought to anything which can
hurt or help you. [This also allows
you to account for events – ‘someone’
intended them.
(Origin of “conspiracy theories”?)]
Theory of Mind
(Keep your eye
on the child
watching the
puppet show.
How old is he?)
Stewart Guthrie, Faces in the Clouds
Oxford UP,
- We constantly anthropomorphize
- This is probably a genetic inclination
- It is the source of religious belief in spirits, gods, God --
belief that events are caused by human-like beings,
many of them invisible.
