Did Religion Play a Causal Role in the Evolution of Large, Complex Societies?.

Format:

Video

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social evolution.

Religion and sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (9 minutes)

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : Latest Thinking, [date of publication not identified]

System Details:

video file

Summary:

The notion of a powerful god is often said to play a significant role in supporting the transition from small relatively equal hunter and gatherer societies to big hierarchical societies. However, as RUSSELL GRAY explains in this video, while there is a correlation between "big gods" and "big societies", this is no causal relationship. By comparing the evolution of different forms of social organization in cultures with a common ancestry in the Pacific and Southeast Asia the researchers found that these societies grew bigger first and only then borrowed the notion of a powerful god through the influence of Muslim traders. Another result on the influence of religion is that ritual human sacrifice played a major role in maintaining or even promoting social inequality.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed August 24, 2020).

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI.