Seeing into believing

The battle between a belief in creationism by some religious groups and Darwinian evolution appears endemic in parts of the US, but in the UK it is a relatively new phenomenon: the home of Darwin has proved more broadly receptive of his ideas over many years. But the new challenges are prompting scientists in Britain to champion Darwinism afresh — The Royal Society held a recent high-profile public lecture by the geneticist Steve Jones to emphasise the strength of scientific evidence in support of Darwin’s work. Even senior religious figures have challenged the position of creationism: the Archbishop of Canterbury recently said that he did not believe it should taught as an alternative to evolution in schools. And the Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, has written of his wish to see faith separated from science. But the breadth and depth of religious views, even when they are not challenging science, have prompted some to consider how humans have come to hold religious beliefs: how such a thing might have evolved. One scientist, developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert, has just published a book on this issue. Wolpert believes evolutionary psychology offers a route into understanding human beliefs, although he acknowledges that it is quite a controversial field. But he points out the need to look at animal behaviour as a starting point and appreciate how flies can land on the edge of a glass and birds build wonderful nests without training. “It is our genes that make the embryos from which we develop and end up as humans, and they determine how our brains will work,” he writes. “Yes, culture is important, as is nurture, but they both interact in and on a very complex biological system.” And in his look at religiosity he finds that it originates in our desire for causal explanations. We make gods and religious systems for the same reason that we make tools, he says. Religion is as human, and as explicable, as the flint axe and the computer, and is a natural consequence of how we are wired as human beings. We have an inbuilt “belief engine”, he says. But importantly, he therefore says a propensity for beliefs should not lead to an acceptance of them. Wolpert developed his view about religion through his family experiences. He was born into a religious household “saying his prayers each night and asking God for help on various occasions”, until he gave it all up around age 16. He has been an atheist ever since. More specifically he is a “reductionist, materialist atheist.” His son Matthew went the other way. Brought up in the Wolpert’s atheistic household, he was converted, in late adolescence, to fundamental Christianity. Wolpert was not upset, as his son had had a difficult late adolescence and the Church “really helped him”, he says. But that event led