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Is Judaism Boring? The role of symbols in

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The role of 'symbols' in this model. Symbolization in Religion, Cognition ... juive pour cerveaux r fl chis : Le Juda sme la lumi re des neurosciences, 2003. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Is Judaism Boring? The role of symbols in


1
Is Judaism Boring?The role of symbols in
imagisticJewish movements in the nineteenth
century
  • Tamás Biró
  • ACLC,
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Groningen Centre for Religion Cognition

2
Overview
  • The McCauley-Lawson model, tedium and Judaism
  • Jewish movements in the 18th and 19th century
  • Why were these movements successful?A frustrated
    mental activation model.
  • The role of symbols in this model

3
Tedium McCauley Lawson
  • McCauley-Lawson model
  • Action representation scheme agent, patient,
    instrument (etc.?)
  • Ritual if and only if at least one slot is filled
    by counterintuitive agent (CIA)
  • Special agent rituals vs. others
  • Balanced ritual systems need both
  • Tedium if no special agent rituals

4
Judaism is boring
  • Mitzvoth (commandments) religious acts and
    non-acts
  • (Almost?) no rituals according to the definition
    of McCauley Lawson
  • Hence, no special agent rituals, either
  • So, McCauley Lawson predict tedium
  • Solutions mystical movements (Kabbalah),
    popular magic, messianic movements (e.g.,
    Shabbatai Tsvi),

5
18-19th century 2x2 movements
  • (NB the analysis below is meant to complement,
    and not to replace traditional historical,
    economic, sociological, etc. explanations.)
  • Reaction to traditional rabbinical elitism
    counter-reactionChassidism vs. Yeshiva movement
  • Reaction to modernity counter-reaction Reform
    Judaism vs. Orthodoxy
  • Additionally each is also reaction to
    tedium!Four strategies are used (at least).

6
Strategy 1 Introducing special agents
  • Chassidism rebbe charismatic
    leaderHigh-arousal special agent rituals, such
    as tish
  • Non-orthodox Judaism the rabbi as a priest
    with special blessing capacities
  • 20th century ultra-orthodoxy even non-chassidic
    leaders often turn into rebbes

7
Strategy 2Intellectual emphasis on existing
religious acts
  • Existing mitzvoth (religious acts and non-acts)
    performed more consciously
  • Equivalent to arousal?
  • Yeshiva movement (et al.) emphasis on study (to
    increase consciousness)
  • Musar movement emphasis on ethics as part of the
    system of religious acts and non-acts (i.e.,
    halakha e.g. lashon ha-ra evil tongue,
    gossips)
  • Cf. L. Naccache Quatre Exercices de pensée
    juive pour cerveaux réfléchis Le Judaïsme à la
    lumière des neurosciences, 2003.

8
Strategy 3 Religious dimension to high-arousal
phenomena
  • Arts
  • Chassidism music chassidic niggunim (tunes)
  • Western-Europe and non-orthodox movements
  • Music cantorial art à la Romanticism
  • Synagogual architecture
  • Artistic sermons, rabbis cloths, etc.
  • Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe strong opposition!

9
Strategy 4New acts and new non-acts
  • Each Chassidic group followers of the Vilna
    gaon, etc. introducing their own minhagim
    (customs).
  • Reform introducing their own practices
  • Strict orthodoxy (esp. Hungary) strict
    prohibitions to avoid any similarity with reform
    and with Christianity (no choir, no rabbinic
    dress, no towers on the synagogues,)

10
WHY THESE STRATEGIES SOLVE TEDIUM???
  1. Introducing special agents
  2. Intellectual emphasis on existing religious acts
    and non-acts.
  3. Religious dimension to high-arousal acts.
  4. New acts and new non-acts

11
Symbols in a network of concepts
What fires together, what fires in the opposite
condition? (Cf. psycho-logical and linguistic
experiments.) NB this is not a neural network!
dove
dove

white
white

white flag
white flag

-
black
black
harmless
harmless

-

peace
peace
death
death
war
war
-

12
Network of religious acts and concepts

kosher
eating
music



liturgy
shabbat

CIA

-
architecture


lighting fire
synagogue
13
  • NB Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888, founder of
    German neo-orthodoxy) commandments are symbols,
    for instance
  • Shabbat, phylacteries, circumcision covenant
  • Pesach and much more remembrance
  • Aim of all mitzvoth to increase the ethical
    level of those observing them
  • Our interpretation performing mitzvoth also
    activate other nodes, such as CIA, history,
    ethics.

14
Network of concepts vs. solutions to tedium
  • Hypothesis Tedium node CIA not activated.
  • Introducing special agents the agent of the
    special agent ritual directly activates node
    CIA.
  • Emphasis on religious acts / non-acts a.)
    stronger activation of nodes w positive
    connection to CIA b.) strengthening connections
    between nodes.
  • Religious dimension to high-arousal acts
    indirect, though strong activation of node CIA.
  • New acts / non-acts more paths to activate CIA.

15
Mental network reflecting social network
-
-
Person 3
Person 3
Person 4
Person 1
Person 2
Person 1
Person 2
Person 4


-

?

Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism

Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
?
Christianity
Christianity
-
Judaism
Judaism
?


?
MYSELF
MYSELF
16
Frustrated networksNetwork inhibits adding
religious dimension to arts

?
synagogue

Tower onprayer place
CIA
?




Reform Judaism

Orthodoxy
-
Christianity
-

Judaism


MYSELF
17
Frustrated networks
  • Optimisation under contradicting constraints
  • Spin-glasses (statistical physics)
  • Simulated Annealing (e.g., artificial
    intelligence)
  • Linguistics Optimality Theory (Prince and
    Smolensky 1993, aka 2004), etc. (especially
    Smolensky and Legendre 2006 Bíró 2006)

18
Summary
  • Application of McCauley Lawsons model to
    Judaism (more cf. SBL)
  • New ways to overcome tedium
  • A mental network-theory to explain these ways
  • Connected to social networks
  • Frustrations related to other cognitive models

19
Thank you for your attention!
  • Tamás Biró
  • http//www.birot.hu
  • Download this presentation from the Archive for
    Religion Cognition
  • http//www.csr-arc.com
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