On Evolution of God-Seeking Mind

Conrad Montell

On Evolution of God-Seeking Mind

An Inquiry into Why Natural Selection Would Favor
Imagination and Distortion of Sensory Experience

Setting the Stage
for Imagination and
Religious Behavior

“It was the experience of
mystery—even if mixed
with fear—that engen-
dered religion” (Einstein
1954, p11).

For early Homo sapiens,
big-brained and naturally
curious, the emergence of
self-awareness and a na-
scent awareness of mortal-
ity (perhaps as spandrels:
as unavoidable conse-
quences of increased brain
size and intelligence)
surely would lead to that
experience of mystery. It
also would lead to a new
kind of survival problem.
In contrast with specific
responses to specific
threats, what could be an
appropriate response to
awareness of a pervasive
threat, an unavoidable danger that was not salient
in the natural environment? How could such aware-
ness benefit survival? Feeling the presence of such a
predator, where there is no possible flight or fight,
might more likely incapacitate or frighten one to
death. Such awareness could hardly be reproduc-
tively beneficial unless it led to some adaptation that
reduced the perceived danger. But what? Swifter
legs? Keener sight? Sharper teeth? Stronger arms?
None of these would do. What then? Since that
“predator” lurks somewhere in the brain, so too, the
adaptation—as some mental structure to counter or
at least mitigate that awareness.

The unique and yet un-
explained aspects of hu-
man evolution are com-
mon knowledge. Among
the multitude of adapta-
tions that evolved in spe-
cies, there appears to be
this one set for which
there is no antecedence in
other species: the adapta-
tions that form the hu-
man mind (Lorenz 1977).
There appears to be a dis-
continuity in evolution
when it comes to the hu-
man mind (Donald
1991). “Biologically, we
are just another ape.
Mentally, we are a new
phylum of organisms”
(Deacon 1997, p23). In
considering the distinct
form of life that is the hu-
man mind, some might
consider it to be a new
kingdom (Lorenz 1977).
That such adaptations
evolved and flourished only in Homo sapiens suggests
the existence of a unique stimulus in the formation
period of our species. This paper focuses on that
stimulus, and on evolutionary and behavioral re-
sponses to it.

We have evolved with an awareness of the world
that goes beyond externally sensed reality, with an
inner “sense” that creates its own reality. We have
evolved with unique ways of perceiving the world,
and with unique ways of passing on information to
future generations, who benefit from the survival
value of our behavior as well as the information in
our genes (Deacon 1997; Dennett 1995, 1978;

Evolution and Cognition ∣ 1   ∣ 2002, Vol. 8, No. 1

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