Professor Sapolsky Explains the Origin of Religion Part 2/2

[tito1894]

Like a boss.

[ThePeter74Peter]

He should've ended with, "BOOYAH! Religious Bitches!".

[fitnesus]

I Really Like The Video From Your Professor Sapolsky Explains the Origin of Religion Part 2/2

[lupabuatchannel]

Your Video Is Very Useful Sharing Professor Sapolsky Explains the Origin of Religion Part 2/2

[MrAKjosh]

Very interesting correlation

[Mary5r3e5r]

schitzotypalism is a personality disorder... he has excellent points, but I don't like how he makes a lot of judgements about people with mental illness..

[IDGAFcoolface]

@JungleJargon ... not much of a science buff are you bud? Ever heard of peer-review or the scientific method?

I hope you don't take any forms of medication because they are based on the exact same "baseless speculations" that you are ridiculing.

The fact that you do not understand something does not mean it is not so.

[JungleJargon]

It is still true that only our Maker Himself, in person, is able to remake us again because there is no one else who can.

(Even if all of your wild assertions and baseless speculations were true.)

You are people, who never learned anything, trying to teach something.

You don't even have a clue about what you are talking about.

The function of hydrogen working inside of us as ordered is observable evidence that we do indeed have a very great Maker.

[scarred10]

@JungleJargon no lad,its evidence of the laws of physics and biochemistry,it has no requirement of any ridiculous god figure.

[JungleJargon]

@scarred10 The ordered function of hydrogen working inside of you proves that you have a Maker.

[cverderame]

@JungleJargon ...im pretty sure every religion is based off of "baseless speculations"

[JungleJargon]

@cverderame There is only one true belief and that is that only our Maker is able to remake us again because there is no one else who can.

Every other teaching is false.

We do have a Maker because function, working parts and mechanisms always have a maker and life forms are not exempt from the laws of science. They all have a very great Maker.

[acuaman42]

All religions are based on ignorance of the believers, like in the old days when people believed in the rain god because they did not understand the water cycle. Now even children understand that cycle and that god is gone. Now many people who understand basic quantum physics do not believe in any god any more.

[InsaneFameNYC]

@acuaman42 yes

[justgivemethetruth]

I think the function of religion is to simplify the world and streamline society so it was simpler and more effiicent. It is easier to deal with simple things compared to arguing forever about fact that cannot be put together or determined.

[Floraiton]

So is he saying that all Christians are people with mental disorders?

[omnimario]

@Floraiton No, he's saying that religion is an idea rooted in schizotypalism, OCD, etc.

[braklinath]

@Meloman0001 it will be easier to determine if it's just a hopeful, but wrong, hypothesis, or an actual scientific fact with the more we learn of it. I'm willing to admit being wrong if I obviously am. but as long as it still remains possible, I'll keep living with the notion that it is.

[braklinath]

@Meloman0001 it's kind of a broad assumption based on little knowledge, but as of this moment, it's the only thing that fits near perfect that I can seem to find. my ideas are based on that of 'dark matter/energy'. some have theorized that this substance is what some ancient people's termed was 'Aether'. that's where I take more of a basis. The 'Aether Double', or as I interpret it, the soul, is made up of dark energy and/or matter. if that's true, then it allows everything else to be logical...

[braklinath]

I believe in religion. and yet, I match nothing of what he's stated.Ive managed to create a theory that would logically explain everything, from magic,to superstition, to religion, and so on. of course, such an explanation is automatically deemed illogical because of what it would entail, but Im keeping as open minded as possible. the only problem, is that, as far as now, we are only starting to understand the basics of this theory in science. if proof states i'm wrong, I'll stop with my theory.

[Meloman0001]

@braklinath What are your ideas?

[mikelh]

Bravo, I wish the full version was online, well is it ?

[PhilGalinsky]

Is the full unedited 1 hour 45 minute version of this lecture available anywhere?

[wjvnlrd]

You suspect? You don't sound too sure.

[Herbarius]

This was extremely interesting... but also somewhat unsettling. Well, if something is "unsettling", that's a good thing, I suppose. It means you have to look into the topic more, think about it (e.g. what exactly it is in there, that seems unsettling to me. I don't know yet. It's just a feeling in my stomach: something is the matter), get other sources to confirm or deny it, and so on...

[alohaoliwa]

'If you're obsessive compulsive, religion can provide a sanctuary'. Amazing!

[lmcdk70]

I like the idea that people with religious tendencies have damaged hippocampii or some other physical abnormality of the brain with associated mental conditions and also (linking it to his other video clips) that it may be because of emotional trauma in childhood or cumulative chronic exposure to stress but the problem I have with this is that anecdotally I know so more people who are religions and have had little exposure to stress compared with non-religious people who have horrendous lives.

[DeadIslandTrailers]

how old is this footage? because his beard is very grey these days.

[karnzkeltic]

I have to disagree about the origins ritualistic behaviors. Ritualism is derived from hygienic maintenance, I brush my teethe everyday, i wipe my ass, I brush my hair, I take a shower. i clean my dishes, I wash my clothing, I do this "RELIGIOUSLY", To stay Healthy. I scarcely think I do this out of superstitious compunction. That being said, OCD comes second.

[sexposecafe]

@karnzkeltic: Those practices, while I whole heartedly observe them as well, sound very American. ^_^ We [Americans--in my limited world view] would be aghast at the differing approaches to such daily rituals of many cultures all over the world! Healthy (?)...the immune system has a way of adapting...DNA, cells, mutagens...evolution of species & the like. (Im not even an evolutionist). But please, on behalf of those that come in close proximity to you, don't stop your "religious" practices. ;o)

[karnzkeltic]

@sexposecafe Hygiene does not know nationality or ethnicity and is only linked with longer life.

[afspeter]

yes it is at blip.tv "Sapolsky on Religion"blip.tv/file/2204956

[KevinMFurr]

I have a tumor. :P

[lyons319]

Also Epilepsy.com has a page about Geschwind's idea of temporal lobe personality disorder. They say that research has failed to back the idea up and so, "the link between this syndrome and epilepsy is strongly questioned." The article is written by William Barr, PhD. So, I'm just a layperson and even I can poke holes in this stuff.

[lyons319]

People can look up "kirtan kriya alzheimer" here on YouTube. You'll see that a religious practice that combines visualization, mantra, and mudra actually stimulates the hippocampus and helps people with cognitive impairment. Also check out the work of Richard Davidson who has studied the brains of Tibetan monks.  This lecture looks a bit old. I wonder if Sapolsky would still say the same thing now.

[KenMacMillan]

Interesting theory on the beginning of religion but how does it pan out archeologically? How do they know that they made a rat superstitious?

[christinegoetz]

Thanks for posting Dr. Sapolsky videos

[Darwyn43]

Man, I love Sapolsky and love his thesis here, but I wish he wouldn't fall back on Western Psychiatry for epistemology. Western psychiatry is it's own kind of fantasy! It is a fantasy that denies the normalcy of irrationality and judges the slightest deviation from some idealized rational norm as such. It seems to me that is exactly the fallacy Sapolsky is exposing. Is it OCD disorders or do people need control and it comes out in environments without it? Is it schizotypals or visionaries?

[RandomMessiah]

@Darwyn43 I think I agree with you. There's this trend of an ideal behaviour attached to specific times/eras. People who deviate from the trend are regarded as sick, as mentally afflicted. But the trend keeps changing. 200 years ago, any person with the level of hygiene of people with very basic hyigiene practices of today's standards, would be considered weird. Most inventors, proeminent artists, technology developers, etc. would be considered ill if not for beneficial results of their disorder

[marendoo]

The model of consciousness as a pure stochatic system (determinism + randomness) actually excludes a genuine freedom of choice, which makes our legal system obsolete. If someone chooses to commit a crime, or not to commit it, he wouldn't be accountable, just as a tree isn't responsible if it causes some damage while falling.

[marendoo]

Lots and lots of people hear voices, see UFOs etc.. because of schizophrenia, but this doesn't exclude that some people may hear voices because someone is really speaking to them, or they are watching and listening to this video. For example, I doubt that the highly trained thibetan lamas all think that there is an immaterial consciousness interacting with the brain simply because they have some learned disease.

[skeletonmom]

People who are religious live longer? Hmmm...this might mirror Sapolsky's baboon study. Most religious people might have a community and therefore less stress. However, those who break away from the religious community-do they experience the stress and health issues when shunned and treated negatively by their ex-community when they choose to be different? And, in religious circles, does heirarchy play an important part concerning stress?

[amaxamon]

Is the full lecture available?

[afspeter]

@amaxamon yes it is at blip.tv "Sapolsky on Religion" lip.tv/file/2204956

[florydory]

How does he know if a rat is superstitious, or not? Does it throw salt over its shoulder, or refuse to walk under ladders? : D

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@florydory That's a great question!

[MsAgnosticatheist]

I'd like to thank the poster for all of these posts, especially ones from Sapolsky, it is a priviledge to be able to watch such a great professor lecture on the net for free. I can educate myself despite being a depressed shut in.

[AnonOrange]

At around 8:30 where he mentions hypergraphia, is it possible that L. Ron Hubbard had temporal lobe epilepsy? He certainly was a compulsive writer, writing over 1,000 books and started scientology. In the last decade of his life, he was a recluse living in a bus. He was also obsessed with religious and philosophical subjects.

[andbb]

@AnonOrange There's great probability. It is said that Mohammad showed traits of temporal epilepsy as well.

Maybe that's one of the main aspects that lead to the establishment of a religion.

[firesulfurlake]

why doesn't to shave 

[zigzagzoo12]

Did he just break out of the mental institute?

[JinxOz]

It is a privilege to watch this.

[b29349]

God uses the weak to lead the strong. I've thought of this with Paul. Him falling and it causing brain damage, but later it's written - he went blind and had to be taken to a guy days later to have "something like scales removed from his eyes.

[jam11049]

is it called "schizo-typalism"? I can't find anything about it? I must be spelling it wrong?

[RichardDawkinsdotcom]

@jam11049 search "schizotypals"

[FranciscoKGuerreiro]

Great thinker the Professor..do advice his lectures about human behavior "TTC - Biology and Human Behavior".

Peace Out:

Zeitgeist Movement & The Venus Project

[worriedaboutlife]

ahh he's picked apart the machine but can he put it back together again?

[amaxamon]

@worriedaboutlife More like identified a few parts of the machine and their possible function.

[1mformed]

Religion. So easy --a caveman could do it.

[ajsilver4216]

Perhaps there is cultural meaning coded in the ritual?

\ Like any work of fiction, it is designed to illustrate meaning. perhaps we have changed our meanings in a modern world?

[NotTooObvious]

i am not big on rituals in the first place. there is an african tribe that uses razor blades all over their body at puberty to become a man. if you question it, they claim ritual. and, another tribe has to jump over oxen and be beaten and other junk to become a man and if he doesn't jump over the oxen in 3 tries, he is killed.

wow, i never thought of the rituals of religion being tied too obsessive compulsive disorder. makes sense.

[SHIBBYiPANDA]

@NotTooObvious what were ur sources for those tribal rituals. Not doubting you, just would love to have those sources and read more about that.