Disbelief in the supernatural in pre-industrial societies?

Question

I once heard that, when anthropologists talk to the people they study one-on-one, that they will be told, "I don't really believe that stuff, but since everyone else in my group does, I keep my mouth shut and pretend."

That is, that in "primative" (sorry, don't know the current, PC term) cultures, not everyone believes in the local gods, and other supernatural stuff. You'd never know it, because, being a tiny minority, they don't go public with their skepticism.

Is this true, or was this person engaged in wish-ful thinking?

Any relevant websites for me to peruse?

Answer 1

The US has the highest % their of population of any country in the industrialized World that believes in creationism & the 2nd highest is Turkey.  Scientific inquiry, theory, & fact have been under attack by fundamentalist religious leaders for the last 40 yrs in both the Christian & Islamic World.  Both groups see science as their enemy because it contradicts the belief of some of their more dogmatic leaders.

When I was young, some 50-60 yrs ago, we saw no conflict between science & religion, but some of today's religious leaders see science as an enemy to their ability to control their followers. Even the Catholic Church has embraced evolution as fact and admitted Galileo was correct.  

I suspect pre-industrial societies are less likely to embrace the supernatural, given the chance, than are "modern day" Americans.

Answer 2

our society will reach its full bloom when we in fact come out w/ the equations and concepts behind the existentialism inherant in such psychic mystical philosophical psychological complacencies.

it will be figured out that man doesn't use psychic powers but robots and animal races do and should.

it will be figured out that man exists as a concept and can eliminate errors in his/her circumstance through personality.

something you probably lack.

Answer 3

That would make sense, if only because scepticism and dissension are extremely rarely seen as positive traits in society.

That is a terrible irony, of course, because science-based information stays the same over time and religious and spiritual information changes depending on the society. If one wanted to know "truth," it seems that science-based information would be closer.

Answer 4

This might be of interest to you:  The BBC is airing a documentary this year called A Rough History of Disbelief.  You can also find it on Youtube.  I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I believe it touches on your question.

In "A Rough History" there is a short segment were he interviews anthropologist Pascal Boyer, who has extensively studied ritual and religion in prehistoric cultures.  He asks Boyer the same question.  Boyer replied, if my memory is correct, that it was unlikely that disbelievers, even if they existed, would have spoken up in these societies.  He stated that anyone who might have, for example, doubted the existence of witchcraft, would have likely been accused of being a witch or the equivalent in that culture.

Also, this is Pascal Boyer's website:  http://artsci.wustl.edu/~pboyer/PBoyerHo...

He has written a lot about evolution and religion.  Maybe some of his books could be enlightening.

Thinking on this further, I, too, would have serious doubts about disbelievers in pre-historic times (pre-industrial, there were many such as the Greek philosophers).  In the documentary someone (can't remember who) states that theologians feared that science would chip away at faith and they were right.  However, in prehistoric times there was no science to speak off.  If a person doubted that the sun was a god, they would be hard pressed to give an alternative explanation.  Given human's hard-wired need-to-know (which predisposes us to both religion and science), it stands to reason that even a person inclined to skepticism would accept the sun as a god with no other evidence to go on.  It would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to defend the position of disbelief at that time. Unlike today when we have much scientific evidence to explain the world around us.  Just my thoughts.