New Age Religions
Wow, this is it.. Turn in your Divination project Today; lecture then our last group project Then final prep
Mechanisms of Cultural Change Small and Large Scale Societies
"Every generation needs a new revolution." Thomas Jefferson
Technologically Simple Societies Relative isolation generally means slow change Change does occur 2 ways; Discovery Innovation
Discovery A new awareness of something in the environment Jared Diamond
Invention Using technology at hand to come up with a solution
Non-isolated Societies Societies that are exposed to other ideas Movement of cultural traits through: Diffusion
Diffusion The Apparent movement of cultural traits from one society to another Tech more likely than social Sometimes a single idea can lead to: Stimulus Diffusion, a new idea stimulated by another
More Terms Acculturation One society possibly forcing another to: Assimilate, take in another cultures ideas, information, ect
Check Haitian Vodou pg. 232-235
Questions? How did Vodou beliefs arise? What kinds of Gods does Vodou worship? What are chromolithographs? How are they syncretic?
Revitalization Movements The movements occur as a way to stand against acculturation Not always religious Chicano movement in the U.S.
Different Types
Nativistic Movements Big gap between dominant & subordinate cultures Push to remove dominant Return to Past Ghost Dance pg.240
Ghost Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0edrt56wk7q
Revivalistic Movements Bring back golden age
New Religious Movements These Religious movement usually come from another older religion Denomination: A religious group that differs on just a few points from the mainstream religion What is a Cult?
Cults Def Historically, a form or system of religious worship Can include devotion of a person or thing For example the cult of Mary Neutral Def. a small, recently created, and spiritually innovated group However, hard to define: Within Christianity they can label some sects as cults, who deviate from the religious norm Popularized by media to refer to mind control or dooms day believers New Religious Movements vs High Demand Religions
In Groups read pages. 245-246 What are New religious movements? What are High Demand Religions? How is mind control used? Why is this bad?
https://www.ted.com/talks/ ex_moonie_diane_benscoter_how_cults _think?language=en#t-361270
Can Evolution Explain Religion? Chimps, do they believe? Well they believe in groups Group Selection Alturism Multilevel Selection Tribalism
Chimpanzee Territorial Defense!! DAVID P. WATTS and JOHN C. MITANI! Some males can benefit from defending a territory Protecting Resources, Mates, Children (connected to status) Cost (injury) vs Benefit (building cooperation, possible within-group rival assessment, maybe word gets back) Selection for cooperation Alliance formation among males What about the free riders & Can evolution explain all this?
Group Selection Can we explain group behavior with evolution? First, do humans need to belong According to the American Psychological Association, YES Socially alienated people are shown to have a multitude of behavioral, emotional, & physical problems Group Selection: in biology, a type of natural selection that acts collectively on all members of a given group. Group selection may also be defined as selection in which traits evolve according to the fitness (survival and reproductive success) of groups or, mathematically, as selection in which overall group fitness is higher or lower than the mean of the individual members fitness values. Typically the group under selection is a small cohesive social unit, and members interactions are of an altruistic nature ( http://www.britannica.com/science/group-selection). What is Altruism?
Altruism: is when we act to promote someone else's welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves.! Kin Selection Reciprocal Altruism
What Does This All Mean?! E. O. Wilson claims we evolved to live in Groups Under something called, Multi Level Selectionbetween group competition led to the evolution of groups The most successful group wins
Tribalism! People must have a tribe (E.O. Wilson).! Modern groups are psychologically equivalent to the tribes of ancient history and prehistory. As such, these groups are directly descended from the bands of primitive prehumans. The instinct that binds them together is a biological product of group selection (E.O.Wilson The Social Conquest of Earth). Tribe: a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader (According to Google). Today we are as tribal as ever, not just a single tribe but multiple tribespeople like familiar/like minded groups: clubs, politics, religious sects, & sports teams Sports Teams - Modern Tribalism at it s best/worst In-group bias, this could be taught to us by who we play with as children encouraging kids to play with neighboring children can lead to this type of bias you are comfortable with what you know Prepared learning - inborn ability to do something (i.e. language, incest avoidance) Are instincts driven by Natural Selection?
Jedi Church? https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=rf5ebrinbk4
Jedi Doctrine No official doctrine or scripture All living things share the living FORCE The Force binds us all together (think of a God as that force) Two sides Good (light) vs Evil (dark) Something inside tells us right & wrong
The Last Assignment You guys/gals spread some knowledge One group does Cargo Cults, next Mormonism, Wiccan, What are Cults, Branch Davidians, UFO/Heavens Gate, & Raelians All necessary information Break it down for the class