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What does religion have to do with natural selection? Many writers have commented on and speculated about evolutionary causes for religious tendencies in the structure of the brain itself. This isn't about that.
The perspective presented here is one of natural selection operating in the realm of ideas. What causes some ideas to survive while others don't? What causes some religions to survive? To understand this, let's first look at the way evolution works in the natural world.
Natural selection is not about the "best" surviving according to some standard of "best" that we choose. It is very simply about the best replicators passing on their genes. In other words, a gene line with low intelligence, disease, and violent tendencies, may "win" the evolutionary contest simply because of an inherent stronger sexual urge, which results in more babies.
There is a form of natural selection that can be seen at work in the realm of ideas as well. Here also, we cannot expect the good ideas to always survive and spread. Our personal values are not the most important element of natural selection, even in ideas. The ability of ideas to replicate is part of what determines which will still be around later. As a result, it is not uncommon to see ideas which are clearly bad for human life spreading like viruses.
Viral Ideas
This is a good metaphor for a number of reasons. Viruses cannot survive and replicate without a host. The same is true of ideas. Viruses can damage and even kill their hosts, and this too is true of ideas. Interestingly, viruses which are too deadly to their hosts, could put their own survival is at risk, because if they kill all of hosts, they would eliminate their own existence as well.
There is an obvious parallel to the latter idea in human thought today, particularly in religious ideas. It's possible they are so dangerous they'll eliminate themselves by way of eliminating the human race. Religious ideas have killed millions in the past, but have been limited in their killing power. Today's weapons (nuclear bombs, biological weapons) make it less certain that humans will survive religious thinking.
Since people can choose what to believe, why do they choose such bad ideas? Why do religions survive? Religions typically do not accept evidence as a standard of belief, nor allow new evidence to alter belief. Both of these approaches prevent a better understanding of the world and of morality, and often result in great harm to human life.
Yet they spread anyhow. Why? Just as with any virus, it is because of effective "strategies" of replication. The following are some of those possible strategies.
1. Create high birth rates among believers. This has been an important element for the spread and perpetuation of many bad ideas. Parents naturally pass the virus (their beliefs) to their children. If a religion says having children is good, that contraception is bad, or anything similar which results in a higher birth rate, it is more likely to continue into the future.
2. Appeal to the desires of believers. There is an unfortunate tendency for humans to believe things because they want to believe them, sometimes in disregard to the truth. Thus if a religion includes elements such as a paradise for believers after they die, it is more likely to survive and spread.
3. Create a system to spread the word. All things being equal, religions which encourage believers to convert others will do better than those which don't. For example, a religion which requires all young men to spend some time trying to convert others can grow very quickly, like a plague.
4. Use fear. Threaten believers for a lack of belief and they are more likely to continue believing, which increases the likelihood of the religion spreading. This explains the calls for death to those who denounce their religious belief or speak against the god of the faith. Also, stating that some authority, whether book or man, is the voice of God creates a fear of criticism or honest exploration of the faith. This helps perpetuate the ideas, protecting them from change.
5. Use recorded ideas. There have probably been hundreds of religions which have come and gone, leaving no trace for us to study. Writing down (or filming or recording) the stories and tenets of a religion gives it a life of its own in a way, apart from the usual host. The book or other record becomes not just a source of authority, but a carrier in its own right. It can be sent out to do the dirty work, just as infected blankets were sent into the wilderness of Native America to spread the smallpox virus.
6. Using social conformity. The pressure to conform to those around us is strong, so to the extent that religions can fill the very real need for association with others, they can keep their beliefs protected and perpetuated. Isolation from those of other faiths (or no faith) may be an important part of this strategy as well.
The above strategies are not limited to religion. They could be and have been used by other belief systems. At the moment, however, the primary danger to the world is religious faith. My hope is that this look at the role of replication strategies in the natural selection of ideas can be used to find ways to prevent the spread of the many evil ideas of religions, including what may be the most damaging, the idea that belief should be a matter of faith.
The page, "Bad Religion," continues this look at religion, with some thoughts on whether there is hope for slowing or stopping the spread of religion, and how that might be accomplished.