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It turns out that myths are an incredibly powerful vessel to preserve and transmit information. Especially before we had widespread access to printing presses,

• wahern 7y ago
  "Sacred text as cultural genome: an inheritance mechanism and method for studying cultural evolution", https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2153599X.2016.1195766 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2153599X.2016.11...: > Sacred religious texts have the properties required for an inheritance system. They are replicated across generations with high fidelity and are transcribed into action every generation by the invocation and interpretation of selected passages. In this article we borrow concepts and methods from genetics and epigenetics to study the “expressed phenotypes” of six Christian churches that differ along a conservative–progressive axis. Their phenotypic differences, despite drawing upon the same sacred text, can be explained in part by differential expression of the sacred text. Since the invocation and interpretation of sacred texts are often well preserved, our methods allow the expressed phenotypes of religious groups to be studied at any time and place in history. An article by one of the authors on the paper: https://evolution-institute.org/religious-epigenetics/ https://evolution-institute.org/religious-epigenetics/
  • acqq 7y ago
    A response to that paper: https://onunicornsandgenes.blog/2018/11/04/journal-club-of-one-sacred-text-as-cultural-genome-an-inheritance-mechanism-and-method-for-studying-cultural-evolution/ https://onunicornsandgenes.blog/2018/11/04/journal-club-of-o...