{"id":2427,"date":"2015-01-27T22:09:30","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T21:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2015-01-27T22:09:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T21:09:30","slug":"wealth-and-enlightenment-in-the-ancient-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2015\/01\/wealth-and-enlightenment-in-the-ancient-world.html","title":{"rendered":"Wealth and enlightenment in the Ancient World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The period between the 5th and the 3rd century BCE was a fertile time for the world\u2019s religions. In India, Buddhism<\/a> and Jainism began to take hold. In China, Confucianism and Daoism likewise attracted mass appeal. And Europe saw the golden age of Greek philosophy.<\/p>\n

What these movements have in common is that they all emphasize spirituality, self-discipline, and selflessness. And in doing so, they all are heavily moralizing.<\/p>\n

According to a new study by Nicholas Baumard (University of Pennsylvania) and colleagues, this was no coincidence. In all cases, they suggest, it was driven by increasing affluence \u2013 specifically the increase in agricultural output that provided energy security and free time to ponder higher thoughts.<\/p>\n

They compared these three regions with others that did not undergo enlightenment movements of this kind \u2013 in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, and the Andes.<\/p>\n

They looked at various factors including the population size of the various states and their surface area \u2013 which they took as a measure of political complexity. They also examined population growth and the population of the main city.<\/p>\n

\"Baumard_2015_affluence_axial_age\"<\/a>The final factor they looked at was energy capture. That\u2019s how much energy \u2013 that\u2019s how much energy (in the form of food \u2013 including animal feed \u2013 and other energy sources) is available per person.<\/p>\n

They looked at how each of these factors had changed over 3000 years up till 0 CE. By plugging the data into a mathematical model, they could see how effective they were at predicted when and where the emergence of \u2018axial\u2019 religions occurred.<\/p>\n

They found that political complexity did not predict the emergence of religions, but affluence did.<\/p>\n

In particular, there was a sharp threshold in energy capture. Once a society crossed the 20,000kcal\/day level, axial religions were much more likely to emerge.<\/p>\n

The size of the largest city also emerged as an important factor. However, total population size and the surface area of the state were unimportant.<\/p>\n

The authors suggest several possible explanations. Maybe the surplus energy enabled these cultures to create a class of individuals with enough leisure time to become scholars or priests \u2013 although they point out that this would not explain why these new ideologies had similar pro-social content. Another is that affluence promoted a new way of life that fitted better urban, cosmopolitan societies of the large city states.<\/p>\n

Their preferred explanation is that energy security shifted society from a \u2018fast\u2019 strategy, focussed on high birth rates and less nurturing, to a \u2018slow\u2019 strategy focussed on long-term investment in co-operation and self-actualization.<\/p>\n

Now, they\u2019re quick to point out that the data are very rough. And Ed Slingerland, who has extensively studied Asian religions, argues<\/a> that the whole concept of an \u2018axial age\u2019 is outdated.<\/p>\n

These results directly contradict a school of thought that says moralising gods\u00a0were invented early on, to strengthen group cohesion. For example, one recent study<\/a> concluded that societies developing in tough environments were more likely to create moralizing gods.<\/p>\n

However, that same study also linked moralising gods to socially stratified societies \u2013 as did another<\/a>, looking also at early cultures. And a study of modern cultures<\/a> linked belief in moralising gods to complex, large scale\u00a0societies.<\/p>\n

So there are some similarities to all these studies. Social stratification, after all, depends on surplus energy\u00a0generation (so the wealthy can live off the work of the poor).<\/p>\n

But where they disagree is over the timing and the implications. Did moralising Gods enable a wealthy, complex society \u2013 or are they simply a byproduct?<\/p>\n

\n

\"ResearchBlogging.org\"<\/a><\/span>Baumard, N., Hyafil, A., Morris, I., & Boyer, P. (2015). Increased Affluence Explains the Emergence of Ascetic Wisdoms and Moralizing Religions Current Biology, 25<\/span> (1), 10-15 DOI: 10.1016\/j.cub.2014.10.063<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/span> This article by Tom Rees<\/b> was first published on Epiphenom<\/a>. It is licensed under Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The period between the 5th and the 3rd century BCE was a fertile time for the world\u2019s religions. In India, Buddhism and Jainism began to take hold. In China, Confucianism and Daoism likewise attracted mass appeal. And Europe saw the golden age of Greek philosophy. What these movements have in common is that they all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23,24,13,25],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-causes-of-religion-social","tag-adversity","tag-ancient-world","tag-environment","tag-moralising-gods"],"yoast_head":"\nWealth and enlightenment in the Ancient World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The period between the 5th and the 3rd century BCE was a fertile time for the world\u2019s religions. 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