Different comments here provide different parts of the puzzle: cooperation (especially in large groups) is why, oxytocine (probably) is how. Addressing the facts about spirituality:
Certain drugs seem to induce spiritual or adjacent states
Well, of course, if something is implemented in the brain, there is probably a way to hack the signals by applying chemistry or electricity to the relevant parts of the brain. This is just as true for spirituality as for everything else the human brain does.
People across religions have ‘spiritual experiences’ that involve particular styles of feeling
Yep, people across religions have the same biology.
Spiritual attitudes involve less interest in ‘worldly’ or petty things Spiritual feelings are often associated with awe and the word ’transcendent’ Spiritual experiences do not present themselves as about hedonic enjoyment of the experience Spirituality is related to ideas of connecting with something beyond yourself
These are all about the ability to prioritize something above my personal desires. If I feel that X is more important than my personal desires, and you feel that X is more important than your personal desires, we have a wonderful foundation for cooperation on X-related things! And it scales easily; if you can convince hundred, or thousand, or even million people to prioritize the same X, you get massive cooperation.
There are other possible foundations for cooperation, for example understanding that cooperation can bring mutual benefits. But this is way more complicated! First you need to establish that the cooperation on given project will actually bring more benefits than whatever is everyone’s next best alternative. Then you need to agree how to share the profit. Then you need to keep watching out for people trying to stab you in the back and take all the profit for themselves, either individually, or as “inner circles”. -- How much easier, if everyone simply believed that X is more important than their profit. Then none of this would be necessary.
And before anyone says “but us nonbelievers can also cooperate: we have countries, armies, corporations, free software, friends helping each other, etc., all without religion”, most of these examples either involve some coercion or they don’t scale or they have a “religious vibe”. You pay taxes because otherwise they would put you in prison; you obey your boss because otherwise you would starve; your friends are limited by the Dunbar number; and your Star Wars fandom is considered creepy by mainstream people.
Spirituality is connected with ‘meaning’ and tends to feel deep and significant Spirituality tends to be fairly positive, in the sense that from a satisfactorily spiritual mental place, one expects the world to seem broadly good or at least compatible with peace
Well, if something is more important than my personal desires, it should feel significant and rewarding.
Spirituality is sincere
Most people are bad liars, so the best way to convince someone that you value Jesus above your life is to actually value Jesus above your life. Then again, most people are hypocrites, so they will skip the parts where you are supposed to sell all your stuff and donate the money to the poor. Yet, if someone in the community actually sells all their stuff and donates the money to the poor in the name of Jesus, they will probably be rewarded by social status. And people probably won’t steal money from the church, because that involves too much risk of going to hell. So… it doesn’t work perfectly, but it beats the alternatives. People will cut the corners, but they won’t oppose their religion directly, and sometimes will do what is required of them.
Oops, I have conflated spirituality with religion here. But I suspect that this “I believe in unspecific higher power that makes me feel good and requires absolutely nothing from me” is a recent invention. More precisely, freedom of religion is a recent invention. In the past, your tribe had a religion and you either followed it or you got killed/exiled; and spirituality is how you internalized it.
(I wonder if there is any research of how much people who are “spiritual but not religious” are able to cooperate; on the scale from organized religion to atomized atheists.)
Different comments here provide different parts of the puzzle: cooperation (especially in large groups) is why, oxytocine (probably) is how. Addressing the facts about spirituality:
Well, of course, if something is implemented in the brain, there is probably a way to hack the signals by applying chemistry or electricity to the relevant parts of the brain. This is just as true for spirituality as for everything else the human brain does.
Yep, people across religions have the same biology.
These are all about the ability to prioritize something above my personal desires. If I feel that X is more important than my personal desires, and you feel that X is more important than your personal desires, we have a wonderful foundation for cooperation on X-related things! And it scales easily; if you can convince hundred, or thousand, or even million people to prioritize the same X, you get massive cooperation.
There are other possible foundations for cooperation, for example understanding that cooperation can bring mutual benefits. But this is way more complicated! First you need to establish that the cooperation on given project will actually bring more benefits than whatever is everyone’s next best alternative. Then you need to agree how to share the profit. Then you need to keep watching out for people trying to stab you in the back and take all the profit for themselves, either individually, or as “inner circles”. -- How much easier, if everyone simply believed that X is more important than their profit. Then none of this would be necessary.
And before anyone says “but us nonbelievers can also cooperate: we have countries, armies, corporations, free software, friends helping each other, etc., all without religion”, most of these examples either involve some coercion or they don’t scale or they have a “religious vibe”. You pay taxes because otherwise they would put you in prison; you obey your boss because otherwise you would starve; your friends are limited by the Dunbar number; and your Star Wars fandom is considered creepy by mainstream people.
Well, if something is more important than my personal desires, it should feel significant and rewarding.
Most people are bad liars, so the best way to convince someone that you value Jesus above your life is to actually value Jesus above your life. Then again, most people are hypocrites, so they will skip the parts where you are supposed to sell all your stuff and donate the money to the poor. Yet, if someone in the community actually sells all their stuff and donates the money to the poor in the name of Jesus, they will probably be rewarded by social status. And people probably won’t steal money from the church, because that involves too much risk of going to hell. So… it doesn’t work perfectly, but it beats the alternatives. People will cut the corners, but they won’t oppose their religion directly, and sometimes will do what is required of them.
Oops, I have conflated spirituality with religion here. But I suspect that this “I believe in unspecific higher power that makes me feel good and requires absolutely nothing from me” is a recent invention. More precisely, freedom of religion is a recent invention. In the past, your tribe had a religion and you either followed it or you got killed/exiled; and spirituality is how you internalized it.
(I wonder if there is any research of how much people who are “spiritual but not religious” are able to cooperate; on the scale from organized religion to atomized atheists.)