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I don't think worship is an "animistic" quality. I think the tendency to worship is very much a refined trait in highly intelligent organisms.
by creep 8y ago
I don't think worship is an "animistic" quality. I think the tendency to worship is very much a refined trait in highly intelligent organisms.
- onion2k 8y agoYou're right in the sense that ritualised, repeated behaviour performed for no obvious gain is something very unusual. Most animals don't waste energy on things that don't have a material impact on their life. I'd disagree with your point about intelligence though. It's simply that we have more resources than we need. Even the stupidest animals would develop rituals if they could afford to.
- mafm 8y agoAnimals like rats and pigeons actually do develop superstitious rituals. Skinner documented it in 1948, and there's a fair bit of literature on it. https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/ https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/
- creep 8y agoYou can't say that ritual and worship doesn't have material impact. You have no way to prove or disprove that.
- sixstringtheory 8y agoSorry, animistic here did not reference the fact that we are animals, rather that we used to worship them and other entities we saw in nature, like the sun, and that we might come to view computers/machines as also having a spiritual essence.