Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods: Early Humans and the Origins of Religion

312 Pages·2017·4.78 MB·English

by  E. Fuller Torrey

E VO LV I N G B R A I N S
E M E R G I N G G O DS
EARLY HUMANS AND THE
ORIGINS OF RELIGION
E. FULLER TORREY
EVOLVING BRAINS,
EMERGING GODS

E VO LV I N G B R A I N S ,
E M E R G I N G G O DS
E A R LY H U M A N S
and the
O R I G I N S O F R E L I G I O N
E. FULLER TORREY
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Torrey, E. Fuller (Edwin Fuller), 1937– author.
Title: Evolving brains, emerging gods: early humans and the origins of religion /
E. Fuller Torrey.
Description: New York, New York: Columbia University Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017010259 ISBN 9780231183369 (cloth: acid-free paper) |
ISBN 9780231544863 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Religion—Philosophy. | Anthropology of religion. |
Brain—Evolution.
Classifi cation: LCC BL51.T6155 2017 | DDC 200.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010259

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Milenda Nan Ok Lee
Cover image: DEA / G. Nimatallah © Getty Images
FOR BARBARA,
WITHOUT WHOM THE BOOK WOULD
NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN,
WITH THANKS FOR FIFTY
GREAT YEARS
•

I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can
imagine. It takes place in an impalpable greyness, with nothing under-
foot, with nothing around, without spectators, without clamour, without
glory, without the great desire of victory, without the great fear of defeat,
in a sickly atmosphere of tepid skepticism, without much belief in your
own right, and still less in that of your adversary.
—JOSEPH CONRAD, H EART OF DARKNESS , 1903
Civilizations, economic systems, migrations, war and peace may come
and go; but the question of death insistently remains. And it links
together in one common humanity—perplexed and distressed—all the
thousand upon thousand generations of men, all the myriad tribes, races
and nations, all the varying groups, types and classes of mankind.
—CORLISS LAMONT, T HE ILLUSION OF IMMORTALITY , 1935

CONTENTS
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
INTRODUCTION: THE BRAIN, HOME
OF THE GODS(cid:2)1
An Evolutionary Th eory 3
Th e Human Brain 6
Th e Nature of the Evidence 9
Parallel Evolution 16
PART 1  THE MAKING OF THE GODS
1   HOMO HABILIS : A SMARTER SELF(cid:2)23
Th e First Hominins 25
Th e Brain of H omo habilis 29
Basic Areas Associated with Intelligence 31
Why Did the Brain Increase in Size? 35