Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being

An "impressive" wide-ranging argument by a renowned anthropologist that the capacity to believe is what makes us human (Justin Barret, American Scientist).

Why are so many humans religious? Why do we daydream, imagine, and hope? Philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and historians have offered explanations for centuries, but their accounts often ignore or even avoid human evolution. Evolutionary scientists answer with proposals for why ritual, religion, and faith make sense as adapta...