Our topic for this meeting will be Religious Systems, the Minds of Gods, and the Evolution of Social Life.
Benjamin Grant Purzycki of the Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture at the University of British Columbia will first guide the audience through contemporary approaches to understanding religion cross-culturally. Then, he will draw from this discussion and attend to the role beliefs about gods’ minds play in our relationships with the natural world and with each other.
Purzycki's recent study published in Nature (paywalled) on the role that belief in punitive gods played in the expansion of human societies received wide coverage.
All are welcome to attend. Join us at 10 am for BYO coffee, tea, and socializing. At 10:30 am we start our presentation and discuss topics of interest to our members.
The BC Humanist Association was formed in 1984 and we have a regular attendance of over 30 people at our Sunday meetings.