From Hugh Colvin
In the unlikely event of the chain of Robin Dunbar’s sociobiological assumptions proving strong enough to bear the weight of his global conclusion that “… gods are created by big brains to prevent free-riders benefiting from cooperative society”, he should note that this strategy may not have been too successful. Could it be that the free-loaders themselves took charge of the god-project from the outset and that they have been administering it – forcibly where necessary – to the rest of us ever since?
We find priests, shamans, medicine men, monks, mullahs, druids and holy men wherever we look, securely tucked into their societal niche and surrounded by free lunches.
We will need better evidence than Dunbar’s to dislodge them.
Knighton, Powys, UK
