God(s)' Mind(s) across Culture and Context
This paper explores dimensions of culture and practice that shape the cognitive pathways leading to different beliefs about God(s)’ mind(s). Varying socio-ecological sources of insecurity are linked to types and modes of cognitive processing, which in turn promote different constellations of beliefs...
| Published in: | Religions |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
MDPI
2023
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| In: |
Religions
Year: 2023, Volume: 14, Issue: 2 |
| Further subjects: | B
dual processes
B God’s minds B culture and cognition B theological correctness |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This paper explores dimensions of culture and practice that shape the cognitive pathways leading to different beliefs about God(s)’ mind(s). Varying socio-ecological sources of insecurity are linked to types and modes of cognitive processing, which in turn promote different constellations of beliefs about supernatural agents dubbed the heuristic and non-heuristic models of God(s)’ mind(s). The heuristic model is suggested to take prominence when relatively few cognitive resources are available to devote to thinking about God(s)’ mind(s); these conceptions of God(s) should be shaped by the socio-ecological pressures believers face. Conversely, when cognitive resources are available, differences in modes of processing (experiential-intuitive vs. analytical-rational) lead to different mystical and theological/philosophical models of God’s mind as a product of more deliberate, effortful processing. By linking beliefs to socio-ecological influences, this paper suggests phenomenological experiences of the supernatural vary across societies as a direct function of the diverse environmental constraints in which people. By linking belief to socio-ecological pressures individuals in societies face, this approach provides a bridge between the intrinsic meaning systems within communities of belief and the cognitive evolutionary approach to parsing the diversity of belief across societies. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel14020222 |