Re: The Spirituality of Chimps


"Mark Thomas" <m.thomas57@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dtb2o8$173i$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Knowing the alpha individuals and 'respecting' them is essential to
survival in the group/band.

With the development of larger groups, with extended territory,
(through religious ties, rather than the simple use of force) this
recognition would have to extend to the development of the ability to
recognise an absent alpha or King. Failure to recognise such a 'King',
through behaviour unfitting to a lowly status e.g. territory siezing
etc, even though the individual may not have been met, would lead to
ultimate punishment.

Once the brain centre is equipped to recognise an absent alpha, perhaps
through the repeated repetition of his name, his music, his threats,
his deeds etc then the ground is laid for belief in a permanently
absent alpha who rules without being seen. (New hypothesis published
here).

So, for these reasons, without having read all of your post, I would
aggree that the chimpanzees probably exhibit proto-religious behaviour
that has developed into the religious behaviour that we see in humans.

Mark Thomas BSC Zool
East Sussex, UK

But have we considered the impact of this thought process in relation to the
hypothesis that, if frogs had wings, and halos, they might not get their
halos jammed down around their necks?

The problem I have with this thinking is that it bases muddy thinking upon
muddy assumptions and arrives at an unscientific non-conclusion.

And it could be argued, also, that for frogs to have necks, we might have to
redefine what we would mean by "neck." Perhaps there is a religious
definition for it that we could borrow for sake of arriving at a testable
hypothesis.

(:>)

g


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