Saturday, April 20, 2013

Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict. By Scott Atran and Jeremy Ginges.

Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict. By Scott Atran and Jeremy Ginges. Science, Vol. 336, May 18, 2012.

Abstract:

Religion, in promoting outlandish beliefs and costly rituals, increases ingroup trust but also may increase mistrust and conflict with outgroups. Moralizing gods emerged over the last few millennia, enabling large-scale cooperation, and sociopolitical conquest even without war. Whether for cooperation or conflict, sacred values, like devotion to God or a collective cause, signal group identity and operate as moral imperatives that inspire nonrational exertions independent of likely outcomes. In conflict situations, otherwise mundane sociopolitical preferences may become sacred values, acquiring immunity to material incentives. Sacred values sustain intractable conflicts that defy “business-like” negotiation, but also provide surprising opportunities for resolution.


Social Warfare. By Scott Atran. Foreign Policy, March 15, 2013.

Psychology Out of the Laboratory. By Jeremy Ginges, Scott Atran, Sonya Sachdeva, and Douglas Medin. American Psychologist, Vol. 66, No. 6 (September 2011).

Scott Atran: “US foreign policy is set by people who’ve almost no insight into human welfare, education, labour, desires or hopes” – video. Posted by David Shariatmadari and Christian Bennett. The Guardian, October 31, 2011.

Talking to the Enemy. By Scott Atran. Video. theRSAorg, November 18, 2010. YouTube.




Scott Atran: Reacting to Terror. Video. AgendaStevePaikin, April 27, 2010. YouTube.