Introduction to the Workshop: Meaning and Religiosity

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Introduction to the Workshop Meaning and
Religiosity
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Complexity and Confusion

• The world seems to change ever more rapidly
• Old certainties are cast into doubt
• Religions have lost much of their authority
• But people are equally critical about science
• its observations seem to change all the time
• it doesnt give any guidance on what we should do

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Importance of a Worldview

• People with a clear worldview are happier
• Mostly (theist) believers
• Also atheist humanists
• People who dont know what to believe are more
  cynical, pessimistic, distrustful
• Worldviews give guidance, meaning, structure to
  your life

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Religiosity

• We dont just need a worldview
• rational, explanatory system
• But a good feeling about the world
• A sense of belonging to a larger whole
• Nature, Society, the Universe
• A sense of meaning or purpose for our actions
• A sense of awe or wonder about the universe

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Non-theist religiosity

• Such feelings may be called religiosity or
  spirituality
• religio that what binds together
• But they do not imply a traditional religion
• No need to postulate the existence of God(s)
• to explain life or the universe
• to feel a sense of meaning, wonder or belonging

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Non-theist religiosity

• Therefore, we wish to examine the problems of
  meaning, religiosity and worldviews
• without a priori assumptions about God(s)
• As also proposed e.g. in
• Leo Apostels atheist religiosity
• (Zen) Buddhism
• Taoism

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Animism, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life
how God helped to alienate us from our true
nature

• Francis Heylighen
• (ECCO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

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The meaning of life

• What are we living for?
• Why are we here?
• What is the ultimate purpose?
• For most people this is a great mystery
• To be solved by philosophical reflection
• Or found in religious teachings
• Or discovered in mystical experiences

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Hunter-Gatherers

• Our original, paleolithic ancestors
• Evolved over millions of years
• Perfectly adapted to their way of life

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Hunter-Gatherer Life

• For hunter-gatherers, life is intrinsically
  meaningful
• To live, to love, to eat, to hunt, to gather, to
  explore, to learn, to play, to care for children,
  to enjoy company
• People are part of nature
• No separation

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Animism

• The hunter-gatherer worldview is animistic
• The world is peopled by animate things
• Humans, animals, but also trees, rocks, rivers
• With their own desires and feelings
• Sometimes allies, sometimes enemies
• But never wholly indifferent
• Life is interaction with this community of agents

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Mythology

• Stories are told about agents
• Real or imaginary
• People, animals, spirits, gods as personalized
  forces
• experiencing dramatic, funny or mysterious
  adventures
• But no agents are in control
• Even the god who created the world gets in
  trouble
• And is made fun of
• Myths dramatize real life with its challenges

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Animist Religion?

• Animism is not theist religion
• Gods have no divine powers
• No absolute rules to obey
• No far-away purpose (Heaven and Hell)
• Myths vary according to the story telling
• Attitude is playful, humorous
• Animism is an experience, not a faith or belief

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Animism is natural

• The world is a network of interacting agents
• Without any absolute laws or authorities
• Largely unpredictable
• But sufficiently controllable to survive and
  thrive
• The intentional stance is efficient
• Assuming that complex phenomena have intentions
  helps you to anticipate their (re)actions

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The Agricultural Revolution

• About 10 000 years ago H-Gs became farmers
• As populations increased, there was not enough
  wild food anymore
• gt gradually more reliance on cultivated food

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Planning and Discipline

• Cultivation requires long-term planning
• And sticking to the plan
• Plant now, to harvest in several months
• Keep seeds
• Let animals grow,to kill when theyare full-grown

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Discipline is not natural

• Instincts tell us to eat food when hungry
• The mind is not made for long-term planning
• Cognitively very demanding
• Natural phenomena are largely unpredictable
• Weather, appearance of food or animals
• Yet, planning and discipline are necessary for
  farmers to survive

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Obeying Rules

• Discipline is initially stressful
• Because spontaneous, instinctive reactions need
  to be suppressed
• Requires constant monitoring and reinforcement
• Interiorization of rules
• Indoctrination
• Rules should become unquestioned automatisms

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Imposing Rules

• Social pressure
• Conformity, mutual monitoring
• Cognitive scaffolds
• Conscience Interiorized social pressure
• Promise of rewards
• Threat of punishment
• Explicit commandments

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The Birth of Gods

• Gods represent social pressures
• Gods have the power to punish/reward
• Gods offer (very) long-term prospects
• Eternal life
• Meaning of (agricultural) life
• Gods formulate rules
• The Ten Commandments

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Monotheism

• Polytheistic gods are more powerful versions of
  animist spirits
• As civilisation evolves, gods become more
  powerful but smaller in number
• Eventually, one becomes Supreme
• Zeus, Jupiter
• Finally, the others lose their god status and
  become mere helpers of the one God
• Angels, saints,

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Newtonian Science

• All-powerful and omniscient God gt
• Has designed a perfect universe
• Obeying unchanging laws
• These laws can be understood mathematically
• They determine everything that happens
• But what then is the final purpose?

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Industrial Society

• Increasingly abstract, complex activities
• require strict discipline and planning
• Rules are increasingly non-intuitive
• Removed from feeling and life
• gt Alienation
• People no longer feel connected to their
  environment and work

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Search for Meaning

• Old ideas of divine purpose have eroded
• No purpose in a Newtonian universe
• God can no longer reward or punish
• No longer belief in afterlife
• But the theist reasoning remains
• Meaning and purpose are to be sought outside of
  our day-to-day experience

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The Solution

• Give up metaphysical illusions
• No transcendent truth, meaning or purpose
• No God or deterministic Laws of Nature
• Recover our animist intuitions
• Meaning is in interaction with our environment
• Living life to the fullest
• With an eye on long-term evolution/development

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Practical approach

• Formulate an evolutionary philosophy
• That theoretically explains the meaning of life
• An integrated, holistic worldview
• Based on (inter)action
• Adopt a more paleo lifestyle
• Eat, live, play and work more like our
  hunter-gatherer ancestors
• While relying on modern technology

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Recovering Happiness

• Stress, depression and alienation
• Caused by industrial habits
• Discipline, sense of duty, constant work, time
  pressure, processed food, competition
• Reinforced by absence of Paleo elements
• Nature, exercise, play, rest, friendship,
  sunlight, natural food
• Technology now allows us to live in a more
  relaxed, natural manner

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Conclusion

• The search for a far-away meaning of life is an
  artefact of agricultural/industrial civilization
• For Hunter-Gatherers, life is intrinsically
  meaningful
• To recover their sense of well-being, meaning and
  belonging, we need to
• Live a more relaxed, natural life
• Give up on unreachable, metaphysical illusions
• Develop an evolutionary, modern animist
  worldview
• Where everything again fits together