Prediction Beyond Belief: Rituals as Active Inference Mechanisms
The statistical brain hypothesis holds great promise for offering an overarching explanatory framework for the study of religion. To make use of its full potential, however, it is crucial to integrate religious belief and practice. This response focuses on one (major) part of the equation missing fr...
| Subtitles: | Statistical Inference Theory of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
The international journal for the psychology of religion
Year: 2025, Volume: 35, Issue: 3, Pages: 145-149 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The statistical brain hypothesis holds great promise for offering an overarching explanatory framework for the study of religion. To make use of its full potential, however, it is crucial to integrate religious belief and practice. This response focuses on one (major) part of the equation missing from the target article, i.e. ritual. I argue that by framing rituals as active inference mechanisms and incorporating embodied cognition, the predictive brain hypothesis can provide a unifying lens to understand religion as a system of recursive feedback loops that dynamically align individual cognition, social interactions, and cultural environments, offering a comprehensive account of the emergence, persistence, and adaptability of religious beliefs and practices across contexts. |
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| ISSN: | 1532-7582 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The international journal for the psychology of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/10508619.2025.2497137 |
