Do you see ideology such as socialism and nationalism in the book? You mention the naty party and its rituals and so on, which were very, very ba in its kind of brand a. Do you see them as performing the same function as religion? They do, but they don't do it as well,. And that's the problem, i think. What's missing here appears to be this transcendental effect of feeling that you're direct contact with some greater force or spiritual force.
Robin Dunbar has been hailed as one of the most insightful and creative evolutionary thinkers of our time, famed for his work on human networks and communities (he came up with the Dunbar number, the idea that humans can have no more than 150 meaningful relationships). Now he turns his attention to religion, the subject of his recent book, How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures. Joining Robin in conversation on the podcast is Stuart Ritchie, Psychologist at King's College London, and author of Science Fictions.
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