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Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission
Religions―whatever else they may be―are configurations of cultural information reproduced across space and time. Beginning with this seemingly obvious fact of religious transmission, Harvey Whitehouse goes on to construct a testable theory of how religions are created, passed on, and changed. At the center of his theory are two divergent 'modes of the imagistic and the doctrinal. Drawing from recent advances in cognitive science, Whitehouse's theory shows how religions tend to coalesce around one of these two poles depending on how religious behaviors are remembered. In the 'imagistic mode,' rituals have a lasting impact on people's minds, haunting not only our memories but influencing the way we ruminate on religious topics. These psychological features are linked to the scale and structure of religious communities, fostering small, exclusive, and ideologically heterogeneous ritual groupings or factions. In the 'doctrinal mode', on the other hand, religious knowledge is primarily spread through intensive and repetitive teaching; religious communities are contrastingly large, inclusive, and centrally regulated. While these tendencies have long been recognized in the history of the study of religion, the modes of religiosity theory is unique in that it explains why these tendencies exist. More importantly, Whitehouse does not give the final word, but invites us to join a series of collaborative networks among anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, and psychologists, currently trying to falsify, confirm, or refine the theory. Are you tired of the flood of descriptions and interpretations of religions which offer no clear strategy for evaluation, comparison, and testing? Modes of Religiosity can provide you with a new way to think when you think about religion.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 13, 2011
This book literally changed the way that I think about religion. At the same time, it represents the kind of religious scholarship which I hope to see more of going forward. If you are at all interested in the academic treatment of religion or in the way religion is conceived of and transmitted, then you really should read this book.
The book considers how religion is transmitted based on cognitive science about learning and motivation. The analysis is extremely in-depth and empirically supported, which makes the case it constructs very strong. The author further provides suggestions for further empirical studies in order to distinguish between his theory and competing theories, and that coming from a religious scholar just blows my mind with its awesome. The book is well-written, engaging, and profoundly insightful. It's a real 5 star book.
My only critique of the book is that it sometimes seems like it is speaking too much about Christian/Jewish/Islamic religiosities, and so some of the purportedly universal claims may not actually be universal. But I don't actually have a particular point where I can fault the analysis of the text as being too "Western" — it's just a general sense I have. And that's the worst thing I can say about this book.
I am not overstating when I say that this book, combined with Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, has fundamentally changed the way that I think about religion and my own religious experiences. It is that significant a text. If you've read this far into the review, you almost certainly should read this book.
The book considers how religion is transmitted based on cognitive science about learning and motivation. The analysis is extremely in-depth and empirically supported, which makes the case it constructs very strong. The author further provides suggestions for further empirical studies in order to distinguish between his theory and competing theories, and that coming from a religious scholar just blows my mind with its awesome. The book is well-written, engaging, and profoundly insightful. It's a real 5 star book.
My only critique of the book is that it sometimes seems like it is speaking too much about Christian/Jewish/Islamic religiosities, and so some of the purportedly universal claims may not actually be universal. But I don't actually have a particular point where I can fault the analysis of the text as being too "Western" — it's just a general sense I have. And that's the worst thing I can say about this book.
I am not overstating when I say that this book, combined with Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, has fundamentally changed the way that I think about religion and my own religious experiences. It is that significant a text. If you've read this far into the review, you almost certainly should read this book.
March 4, 2013
This book puts forward a model for thinking about the way religious ideas are transmitted. Whitehouse's theory tries to explain how religions are propagated in the first place, and what their enduring appeal is – particularly, what motivates people to reproduce religious knowledge? What makes spiritual experiences memorable, or ingrained?
Whitehouse separates religion into two modes: imagistic and doctrinal. I think his descriptions of each ring true for what we observe in various religious experiences. Imagistic experiences are immediate, localised, often traumatic, and thus highly memorable. Trauma becomes a part of you, but it's difficult to transfer because it's something entirely personal. On the other hand, doctrinal modes of transfer are characterised by heavy repetition, orthodoxy, anonymity, and are centralised.
It's a neat way of thinking about transmission, but quite difficult to test. There does seem to be some support in the area of neuroscience – different types of religious experiences do engage the brain in predictable ways. It's just very difficult to work out how relevant that data actually is; the brain is highly connected, and activity in one area may not always indicate straightforwardly how somebody feels. I also suspect that what he may be dichotomising what is essentially a continuum, as I feel both modes inform and support each other in many religions.
In any case, I think this book is important because it locates religiosity in the underlying mechanisms linked to emotions, feelings and perception. It makes it more difficult to envisage belief as something backward or unprecedented, and instead just a side-effect of structures that are deeply part of all humans.
Whitehouse separates religion into two modes: imagistic and doctrinal. I think his descriptions of each ring true for what we observe in various religious experiences. Imagistic experiences are immediate, localised, often traumatic, and thus highly memorable. Trauma becomes a part of you, but it's difficult to transfer because it's something entirely personal. On the other hand, doctrinal modes of transfer are characterised by heavy repetition, orthodoxy, anonymity, and are centralised.
It's a neat way of thinking about transmission, but quite difficult to test. There does seem to be some support in the area of neuroscience – different types of religious experiences do engage the brain in predictable ways. It's just very difficult to work out how relevant that data actually is; the brain is highly connected, and activity in one area may not always indicate straightforwardly how somebody feels. I also suspect that what he may be dichotomising what is essentially a continuum, as I feel both modes inform and support each other in many religions.
In any case, I think this book is important because it locates religiosity in the underlying mechanisms linked to emotions, feelings and perception. It makes it more difficult to envisage belief as something backward or unprecedented, and instead just a side-effect of structures that are deeply part of all humans.
January 21, 2018
Harvey Whitehouse explores how the human mind is formed by the rituals and stories of their communities. He focuses on religious communities, but the rituals and stories are far more a cultural construct. He focuses on the way that the mind receives information and makes memories. The core of is argument is the making of implicit (habitual, non-cognitive) memories and explicit (cognitive, storied memories). Implicit memories give a normative exegetical/meaning-making baseline to understanding stories and experience. Explicit memories create cognitive dissonance with extreme experiences that imprint themselves fully on the mind. These memories create spontaneous reflection and exegesis that is uncontrolled, but creates deep meaning-making.
Whitehouse creates a solid argument. However, after reading much more about neurological development and cognition, I think that Whitehouse latches onto one mode of cognition in memory making, but he does not consider the full neural mapping of memory making and how it creates and recreates experiences in the mind.
Whitehouse creates a solid argument. However, after reading much more about neurological development and cognition, I think that Whitehouse latches onto one mode of cognition in memory making, but he does not consider the full neural mapping of memory making and how it creates and recreates experiences in the mind.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews