From Andrew Page
Ashtead, Surrey
Moreton argues that the prevalence of religion indicates that genes for this
trait must have had a selective advantage in the past. In a sense this must
be true, but it doesn’t mean that the inclination towards religious belief was
itself advantageous.
Religion may be a by-product of a development that brought other advantages.
It has been frequently remarked that many human characteristics resemble those
of juvenile apes more closely than of adult apes.
The persistence in adulthood of juvenile or even prenatal traits accounts for
increased brain size and more upright posture. Some other traits have tagged
along, such as smaller jaws and brow ridges and flatter faces. This general
trend is known as neoteny.
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The retention of learning ability may be a behavioural example of neoteny,
and so, I would argue, is the tendency towards religious belief. It represents
the desire for parental care that never quite leaves us as adults.
This might be modestly disadvantageous but may not be eliminated because it
is linked to other traits that are strongly selected for.
In this respect, as in a number of others, we are apes that never really grew
up. Hence: “Our Father, who art in heaven”.
