#435 Ghristopher Kavanagh: Religion, Rituals, Belief in Japanese Society, and WEIRD Psychology

<p>------------------Support the channel------------</p> <p>Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter">https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter</a></p> <p>PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter</p> <p>PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy">https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy</a></p> <p>PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l">https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l</a></p> <p>PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz">https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz</a></p> <p>PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m">https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m</a></p> <p>PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao">https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning &amp; Development done differently. Check the website here: <a href="http://enlites.com/">http://enlites.com/</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>Dr. Christopher Kavanagh is an associate professor in the College of Contemporary Psychology at Rikkyo University and a researcher in cognitive anthropology at the Institute of Cognitive &amp; Evolutionary Anthropology (ICEA) at the University of Oxford. Currently he is based in Japan where he conducts research in collaboration with Masaki Yuki’s Culture, Social Ecology, and Psychology Lab in Hokkaido University. His research interests include East Asian religions, ritual behavior, and the bonding effects of shared dysphoria. He is co-host of the Decoding the Gurus podcast.</p> <p>In this episode, we talk about some topics in the cognitive science of religion, and WEIRD psychology. We start by defining religion, and talk a bit about its evolutionary and cultural foundations. We discuss how religion is practiced, and distinguish between orthopraxic and orthodoxic religions. We mention modes theory, and the best ways of studying religious rituals. We focus specifically on high-arousal rituals. We discuss minimally counterintuitive ideas. We talk about how relational mobility can explain cert