Religion and the Imagination - Cue a John Lennon Song

According to an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, the very process that John Lennon suggested we use to put religion and other human institutions out our minds might very well be the reason we have religion to begin with.

Imagination, says Maurice Bloch [New Scientist], is what sets humans apart from other animal species. Unlike even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, humans have the unique ability to imagine things that do not exist.

It seems like common sense when you think about it: art, theater, cinema, music, and language it self are each derived from the human imagination. The suggestion that religion is a product of human imagination isn’t necessarily a new one. Modern popularizers of the atheist movement have suggested as links to religion and imagination, though perhaps not as explicit as Bloch.

Daniel Dennett, in Breaking The Spell, tells us that language makes it possible for us to, “remind ourselves of things not currently present to our senses, to dwell on topics that would otherwise be elusive” as we consider our ancestors or other absent and dead people. This is what Bloch refers to as the “transcendental social,” comprised of a group with members one may have never met (clan members, ancestors, gods, deities, etc.).

Richard Dawkins, in The God Delusion, writes, “[c]onstructing models is something the human brain is very good at. When we are asleep it is called dreaming; when we are awake we call it imagination [...]“

V.S. Rmachandran, a prominent neuroscientist, describes many ways in which the human brain uses imagination to cope with damage to cognitive abilities of the brain after traumas or injuries. He includes an entire chapter on a syndrome known as anasognosia in which patients who suffer from strokes or  brain injuries that result in paralysis of a limb construct elaborate and imaginative denials of their paralysis to the point that they actually believe an otherwise paralyzed arm is perfectly normal and sometimes even stronger than the non-paralyzed arm!

Perhaps the same neurological and cognitive functions that inspired the pages of Rama’s Phantoms in the Brain are related to the neural architecture Bloch believes was developed in humans some 40-50,000 years ago. This is the period of the Upper Palaeological Revolution in which lithic technologies and art “suddenly exploded in sophistication” and where funerary artifacts, rock and cave paintings begin, and stone tools take on new styles that allow for more advanced and diverse uses.

In my studies of the Neanderthal to human switch in Europe, where the dominant species of residence changed from Neanderthals to humans, I’ve often considered that it may have been the willingness of humans to believe and imagine which gave them a competitive edge over Neanderthals. If Neanderthals had a diminished capacity to utilize their imaginations, they would have been less likely to develop or adapt to changing climates or environments. They would have been less likely to migrate and spread out except to put space between rival clans or groups. Humans, on the other hand, are naturally curious and imagine every sort of possibility, giving rise to in-groups and out-groups and a natural drive to explore and migrate, perhaps seeking “the good life” in the next valley, and quickly adapting to conditions ranging from desert to arctic using their imaginaitions.

Given that humanity has had thousands of gods and religions in recorded history alone, it isn’t hard at all to imagine that they are each the result of, well, imagination.

Books mentioned:

Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. London: Bantam.

Dennett, D. C. (2006). Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. London: Viking.

Ramachandran, V., and Sandra Blakeslee, (1998). Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: Morrow

Geeks and their Toys

I’m hooked. I’m an addict and I admit it.

It all began about one year ago when I caught my first episdode on PBS. Since then, I’ve sought out and watched each episode of Dr. Who (the modern series, that is).

And now I’ve found the perfect geek toy:

The Sonic Screwdriver!

Okay… now I’m a real twit

I’ve just started using twitter (@cfeagans), and it seems interesting so far. Playing around with the new version of Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) and re-installing some of the apps and extensions I had before. It includes the new version of Firefox as one of its packages, which seems a bit quicker and less memory intensive. Apparently FF3 doesn’t pre-cache pages, which created a large memory footprint for FF2. Many of my old extensions no-longer work though. I miss my Blue Ice theme and some others, but so far no real regrets.

Poison ivy is killig my left hand at the moment, so not a lot of typing or blogging will happen in the next day or so… It’s killing me, too, since I’m feeling an urge to tackle some of the writing projects I’ve been thinking of recently and blogging on some archaeology and pseudeoscience topics. I’ve actually started a book on pseudoscience that discusses the kooks, cranks and nuts I’ve personally encountered on the web. I’m thinking of publishing direct to Kindle or Lulu (or both). If anyone has suggestions/tips regardng either, my ears are open.

Or, if anyone as tips on how to get rid of a poison ivy rash fast I’m also listening!

Kevin Trudeau is still a liar

One of the most popular (i.e. the most clicked on/referred by google/etc) post I ever did was also one of my first. It was Review: Kevin Trudeau’s Natural Cures: Part 1 and it easily has the most comments. My old blog at Blogger is still getting hits & comments all the time. Here’s the latest (in italics below with my responses in bold):

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well I am outraged. I personally went through a battery of tests in my 20’s and went through 5 heart specialists, was misdiagnosed, missed two months of work, and finally diagnosed with mild MVP!

I’m very sorry to hear that.

So yes, it is possible for the “medical” specialists to be idiots and completely miss something as simple as MVP.

I’m always fascinated that those that cannot meet the expectations of some are automatically idiots, regardless of the issue at hand.

And as for the injection of cellular material, I dont know much about that but what the heck do you think is in vaccinations????? Chicken embryos, monkey livers ect….Doesnt the medical community claim this is a perfectly safe procedure to inject our children with?

Are you suggesting that vaccinations are “chicken embryos” and “monkey livers?” Vaccinations are comprised of vaccines, which are killed or otherwise inert forms of microorganisms like bacteria or viruses. They “teach” the immune system what the actual virus looks like so that it might be recognized and more easily defeated during phagocytosis and other immune responses to foreign invaders. There are no chicken embryos and monkey livers involed except perhaps in the cultivation or collection of the microorganisms.

How much longer can they continue to deny that they are causing our children to have autism and other diseases with these “recommended” vaccinations.

Why should they do anything *but* deny it? Why would medical professionals admit to an assertion based on hysteria, ignorance, poor education, and out-right confabulation and fear-mongering? There isn’t a single bit of scientific evidence which suggests that vaccines have anything to do with “autism and other diseases.”

You should do a little more research before you bash alternative treatments.

And you should obtain an education before you take a stand based on ignorance. It makes you look foolish. And, for that reason, it is perhaps wise that you chose to be anonymous in leaving your comment. But please: cite a source of information that should have been included in my “research.” If you reply to that at all, I’m sure it will be the standard woo retort, “why should I do your research for you,” given whenever said research doesn’t really exist except in the imagination.

Why not try acupuncture-you will find yourself in better shape for having had a treatment.

I might as well try eating deep-fried bannana peels and smoking cattail leaves. There’s precisely the same amount of evidence that they have any redeeming value in putting one in “better shape” as acupuncture.

I for one, after reading Kevin’s books, am happy to say, my family is drug free, healthier, and better for having been given Kevin’s powerful and true information.

Kevin Trudeau is a con artist. He’s a quack. A hack. He’s an asshole out to rip good, hardworking Americans off -stealing there money by making them fear medicine and doctors. I hope you don’t have to find it out the hard way.

Good luck to you and good health to you and your family.

To all else that read this comment, this is a good example of why science education and critical thinking skills should not be neglected in America to the extent that they are. I’m not a fan of “big pharma” and other corporations that are willing to profit on the misery and needs of hard-working people. Kevin T. has made himself out to be a “champion” of the underdog and the people, but he’s really out for #1. Himself. The guy *is* the establishment he pretends to warn others about. He exploits the fact that science education and critical thinking skills are not at a premium and that he can scam his marks into “buying” a book that doesn’t actually reveal any information about “natural cures.”

There is no substitue for scientific medicine. There is no “alternative” to it. Its either scientific or it isn’t.

The Four Stone Hearth #37 - The Pulp SciFi Edition

Pulp Science Fiction is a cultural gem that I recently rediscovered at a second hand book store when I chanced upon a pile of science fiction anthologies. The cover art was fantastic! I ended up not purchasing any of them and immediately regretted it when I got home, so I spent the better part of an hour in Google looking at this art form and finding comic book and magazine covers from the 1950s and 1960s that were familiar to me from my childhood. I grew up in the late 60s and then the 70s, so the space craze was a very memorable. I remember watching Moon landings and wanting to be an astronaut like every other kid.

The art from the 1960s reveals an expectation that we had about the way things might be, should be, or perhaps the way we were afraid things would be. Jet packs, streamlined rocket ships with fins, girls in space with tight fitting spacesuits, and killer robots and aliens. Many of these themes still pervade modern science fiction, but not nearly with the style and drama brought to life in the imaginations of artists like Ron Turner and Frank R. Paul.

I hope you enjoy this installment of the Four Stone Hearth!

************

Archaeology From Around The World, by Middle Savagery.

Jet Packs. Where are the jet packs? Isn’t that what was promised by science fiction in the day?

So strap on your jet pack, don your goldfish bowl helmet, and grab your ray gun. Then visit your tour guide, Middle Savagery, at the link above to begin a world tour of archaeology in action around the world. If you don’t have a jet pack, Middle Savagery links to a Flicker Group that specializes in archaeology photos. From the Isle of Wight to the Sudan, archaeology never looked so good.

Pictland Should Be Plural, by Jonathan Jarrett.

The Picts have invaded A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe! These one-eyed tentacled beasts are snatching Spandex-Space-Suited girls and your help is needed to stop the invasion!

Or, perhaps the Picts began one of the first recycling programs in Scotland and weren’t alien monsters at all. Visit the link above and find out for yourself. Recycling? Really? In 600 CE no less! If you want to find out the details, read the post!

Discovery Channel, Teaching The Debate, by Archaeoporn.

What could be more absurd than two scantily-clad boxers duking it out in front of an audience of robots? And did you notice one is straddling the other!?

To answer that question, click the link above and read Archaeoporn’s take on The Naked Archaeologist and a porn-star host of a “documentary” on the History Channel. The post at Archaeoporn provides a decent overview of the Shroud of Turin and the nonsense asserted by proponents of its authenticity. Archaeoporn’s critique centers around The Discovery Channel’s online article/slide show. He didn’t comment on it, but the PBS special “Secrets of the Dead: The Shroud of Christ” wasn’t much better.

Human Evolution on Trial -”Culture,” by Terry Toohill.

Unless aliens landed in the night and started playing recordings of Pimsleur’s Indo-European or the latest Rosetta Stone course in Pama-Nyungan (it is the choice of NASA!), then Language (big “L,” folks) is an evolved process. Terry Toohill has written this post on human evolution and touches on Language, Religion, and other topics as evolutionary processes within human culture.

“Clovis First” - The End, by Tim Jones.

“Behold! This great phallic and fluted warhead is the first of its kind!”

Tim writes a great post that ties in several sources to discuss the “Clovis first” paradigm and some of the sites involved that Clovis may not have been the first lithic technology in the Americas.

Domestic Fowl In Roman Egypt, by Archaeozoo.

If you were to visit Titan, a moon of Saturn, and you have a penchant for Coturnix coturnix, you can forget about logging into A Blog Around the Clock (dial up is too expensive from there and DSL lines aren’t in place yet). You’ll need to bring your quail with you!

And that’s what Archaeozoo’s post above describes with regard to an isolated Roman site in ancient Egypt. Not as isolated as Titan, this desert quarry still wasn’t in any position to order take-out, so they would have had to stock up on supplies. Read the post to find out about the domestic fowl play involved.

Human Exploitation Of Birds On The Isle Of Man, by Archaeozoo.

You might be tempted to think Archaeozoo has gone to the birds, but he has two posts to offer us today!

Perhaps it comes as a shock to some, but man has been known to exploit non-human species for human gain. Read about the wild birds netted on the Isle of Man as early as the 16th century, fattened up, then served up at the local KFC. Okay, maybe not the KFC.

Pimp My Grant Proposal, by Martin Rundkvist.

A 50 ft. woman named “Grant Proposal” is attacking the Öresund Bridge and Martin needs your help! ‘Nuff said.

Impressive Angkor, by Paul.

Why become an anthropologist? Exotic travel to far away places and the joy of discovery. The beauty of it is, if you can’t leave your own chair due to budgeting, time management or gravity, you can click on the link above and visit Wanna be an Anthropologist and read his take on a presentation Paul attended “by Roland Fletcher, an archaeologist from the University of Sydney who is leading up the Greater Angkor Project.”

There are some great links and photos to the new discoveries at Angkor that reveal that “Angkor Wat [the temple itself] is just the tip of the iceberg– that it was the center of an enormous, low-density urban complex whose size (1000 square km) rivaled large modern day cities.”

Finally! Some Time Off!

I’m officially on vacation for a week. Other than a couple of days at Sea World, San Antonio at the end of the week (if I can get a dog sitter), I’m not planning on an out of town trip. I’ll probably take the kid to a couple of local museums, sites, and hiking since its her spring vacation. I’ll try to get a few photos if I go to the Kimble… I’ve been meaning to do a post about artifacts and the ethics of museum acquisitions and the Kimble has some pre-Columbian artifacts on display that might make a good jumping off point.

I’ve also recently purchased a Nokia N800 internet tablet which I love! I won’t go into a lot of details about it here, since I decided to blog about it at Hot Cup of Joe Tablet! I know what you’re thinking: “Carl, you haven’t even blogged here in a coon’s age, so why are starting a new blog?” The answer is simple: I really don’t know. The motivation to write comes and goes in spurts with me and I think a new spurt is coming (jeez, did I really just type that?).

Anyway, I’ve a few posts I’m working on here already and I’m going to be hosting the Four Stone Hearth soon (so send me your entries either through the submit link on the FSH page or to cfeagans AT gmail DOT com, FSH in the subject line). I’m either going to use a Doctor Who theme or a Pulp Sci Fi theme for this installment. If you want to vote on the theme, leave a comment here.

In the mean time, Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock (a *must* read blog if you haven’t checked him out) has asked a couple of us anthropologist bloggers to read and comment on a PLoS One article on the Peopling of the Americas which he’s linked to in this post. I gave it a once over and will be reading it closer in the next day or so. Hopefully I’ll have a useful comment to add. I was aware of the article previously, but hadn’t the chance to really read it.

So what say ye? Doctor Who? or Pulp Sci Fi?

The Four Stone Hearth #35, The Giants Are Real edition

Find it here at Archaeoporn! He was good enough to slip me in at the last minute. Next up is Afarensis on March 12th and I get the honors after that on March 26th.

Recent News In Mesoamerican Archaeology

The King Has Left The Building

Apparently Maya elites and royalty weren’t the only ones building temples and pyramids. And the mystery of the blue pigment used in Maya pottery and murals has been solved.

Mayanists, archaeologists that specialize in the study of Maya culture in Mesoamerica, have long believed that temples were built by and for royalty. And, at first glance, this assumption would seem intuitive. Monumental architecture is a costly undertaking in both resources and manpower. The people used to erect monumental architecture such as the pyramid temples of sites in Belize and Guatemala wouldn’t have been available, for instance, for farming. They would have been dedicated to moving rock, earth, gravel, and lumber used for fuel in the hot fires needed to create lime for plaster.

What archaeologist Lisa Lucero, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, began to wonder is what would royals at Yalbac need with six temples. What Lucero noted over the last five years of working the Yalbac site in central Belize is that there are a variety of construction techniques and materials used in the temples there and, by examining the fill, mortar and other features, she’s willing to suggest that several groups may have created temples: royals, nobles, priests, and even commoners.

The broader implication is that a kind of religious freedom may have existed among the Maya in which they were able to worship different gods. Says Lucero, “the Maya could choose which temples to worship in and support; they had a voice in who succeeded politically.”

Lucero’s paper on the subject is published in the most recent issue of Latin American Antiquity with the title, “Classic Maya Temples, Politics, and the Voice of the People.” I’m eager to read it once I finally make over to the university library (UTA doesn’t carry the current version in electronic format) to see just how it is she’s able to infer non-Royal involvement in construction through fill and mortar.

Don’t Step On Maya Blue Suede Shoes

At the bottom of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá is a 14 foot layer of Maya Blue, a nearly indestructible pigment that is found on Maya pottery, murals, rubber artifacts, wood, copal incense, etc. So named because of its color and origin, the pigment has long been a marvel and a mystery to Mayanists. It resists corrosion, biodegredation, weathering, and solvents and can withstand the test of time with an uncanny vividness. This stable pigment results from a chemical bond between indigo and palygorskite, a type of clay.

What Mayanists couldn’t figure out is how, precisely the Maya created the pigment and why so much of it resided in a 14 foot layer at the bottom of the cenote. To bond the indigo and palygorskite, the two substances need to be heated. As it turns out, the Maya burned a mixture of copal incense, palygorskite and parts of the indigo plant, creating the blue pigment. Sacrifices, ranging from pottery to people, were then painted blue and tossed in the cenote.

But how do we know that sacrifices were painted blue? And why paint them blue to begin with?

Scenes on pottery and murals depict the sacrifices as blue in color, whether they be objects or people. The sacrifices were painted before being plunged into the waters of the cenote or being put on the altar for the removal of a still-beating heart. The components of Maya Blue, the indigo plant, the clay, and the copal incense, were each important items of medicinal importance to the Maya:

… what we have here are three healing elements that were combined with fire during the ritual at the edge of the Sacred Cenote. The result created Maya Blue, symbolic of the healing power of water in an agricultural community.”

Rain was critical to the ancient Maya of northern Yucatan. From January through mid-May there is little rain – so little that the dry season could be described as a seasonal drought. “The offering of three healing elements thus fed Chaak and symbolically brought him into the ritual in the form a bright blue color that hopefully would bring rainfall and allow the corn to grow again,”

And how did the pigment arrive at the bottom of the Sacred Cenote to form a 14 foot layer of Maya Blue?

While it’s one of the most durable pigments known, it still has a tendency to wash off the items it’s painted on. Hundreds of blue-painted people and countless items of pottery and other artifacts sacrificed to gods like Chaak over the centuries of Maya influence at Chichén Itzá allowed for a precipitate of the pigment to fall off the sacrifices and collect at the bottom.

You’ll be able to read more about the Maya Blue research in the next issue of the Journal Antiquity where the researchers have a paper about to be published.

For me, insights into the beliefs and motivations of ancient peoples is the payoff for research conducted by Lisa Lucero in the first news item above and the anthropologists at Wheaton College and The Field Museum in the second item. My research interests lie in ancient beliefs, cult practices, rituals, and religion and what motivated people of antiquity to adhere to these beliefs and practices. But the Maya Blue research also highlights the importance of continuing to conduct research on museum collections, particularly as new techniques and insights are developed and applied to these items. In this case, The Field Museum was able to analyze a three-footed pottery bowl recovered from the Sacred Cenote in 1904 and kept in the museum since 1934. With a scanning electron microscope, the researchers were able to identify signatures for palygorskite and indigo in the bowl. Further analysis might reveal which parts of the indigo plant were specifically used, although leaves are the most likely.

Further Reading:

Royals weren’t only builders of Maya temples, archaeologist finds
Archaeologists let looters do some of the work
Centuries-old Maya Blue mystery finally solved

Current Events in Blogging

First, welcome back to the fray, Chris! Northstate Science has been somewhat silent the past few weeks but Christopher O’Brien is back and he made the move to WordPress! Looks like I’m not alone in that move! I’ve updated his link in my Blogroll and be sure to visit -his blog is one of those “don’t miss” blogs on the topic of archaeology.

Next, the Four Stone Hearth’s 34th edition is up at Our Cultural  World. This is the first time being hosted at this blog and blogger bedeboop has done a fine job presenting it. As is usual of late, I’m behind the curve in getting a post ready. New job position, new hours, etc…. I won’t bore with the details, but I’m getting it sorted.

On the Lighter Side: Archaeology Today

Monty Python style!

Flaming Star!

The Story of One Man’s Search For Vengeance in the Raw and Violent World of International Archaeology