#472 Aiyana Koka Willard: Religion, Cognition, Culture, and Human Universals
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 16th 2021.
Dr. Aiyana Koka Willard is a Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London. Her research focuses around the culture and cognitive origins of supernatural and religious beliefs. She is particularly interested in how thinking about minds and causal reasoning is related to supernatural beliefs. Her current research focuses on witchcraft, karma, and evil eye beliefs.
In this episode, we talk about the anthropology and cognitive science of religion. We start with a discussing about the cognitive bases of religion, and how to understand religion as a cultural practice. We talk about the mechanisms that might explain why some religious ideas are more memorable and stickier than others. We address the relationship between religion and morality. We go through practices and beliefs like witchcraft, karma, and evil eye beliefs. Finally, we talk about some of the communities Dr. Willard has studied, and what they might tell us about human universals.
Time Links:
Intro
The cognitive bases of religion
Religious beliefs and how they spread
The relationship between religion and morality
Witchcraft, karma, and evil eye beliefs
Cross-cultural studies, and human universals
Follow Dr. Willard’s work!
Follow Dr. Willard’s work:
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3bec2jS
Twitter handle: @aiyanakoka