Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not

Cognition

Why Vaccine Hesitancy Is Unlikely to Go Away

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on August 8, 2026

Natural cognitive dispositions surrounding contamination avoidance may fuel vaccine hesitancy.

Natural cognitive dispositions surrounding contamination avoidance may fuel vaccine hesitancy.

Religion

A Reversal of the Religious Gender Gap

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on May 4, 2026

Across a range of cultures and faiths, women tend to be more religious than men. Surprising new data suggests that may be changing in the U.S., at least for young adults. What explains the shift?

Across a range of cultures and faiths, women tend to be more religious than men. Surprising new data suggests that may be changing in the U.S., at least for young adults. What explains the shift?

Cognition

Mental Murmuration: A Metaphor for the Workings of the Brain

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on January 27, 2026

Modern neuroscience and the computational modeling of the activities of vast, integrated neural networks provide fruitful accounts of how our minds work and learn.

Modern neuroscience and the computational modeling of the activities of vast, integrated neural networks provide fruitful accounts of how our minds work and learn.

Law and Crime

The Scopes Trial, Science, and the Law

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on October 30, 2025

What scientific knowledge is and is not presumed in legal reasoning, and what are the differences between what is and what is not?

What scientific knowledge is and is not presumed in legal reasoning, and what are the differences between what is and what is not?

Happiness

Digging Into the Sources of Human Happiness

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on June 26, 2025

Financial and material security are certainly conducive to human happiness, but they do not appear to be more important than other humanistic factors.

Financial and material security are certainly conducive to human happiness, but they do not appear to be more important than other humanistic factors.

Cognition

The Fragility of Science

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on March 29, 2025

Scientific progress depends upon costly programs of research and systems of education that compensate for humans’ problematic perceptual limitations and cognitive dispositions.

Scientific progress depends upon costly programs of research and systems of education that compensate for humans’ problematic perceptual limitations and cognitive dispositions.

Social Life

There Are Natural Limits on the Size of Human Communities

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on December 31, 2024

What the social brain hypothesis says about community size and the mega-church.

What the social brain hypothesis says about community size and the mega-church.

Self-Control

Does Performing Rituals Build Character?

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on October 3, 2024

Can participating repeatedly in rigidly constrained, pointless actions enhance traits relevant to character development?

Can participating repeatedly in rigidly constrained, pointless actions enhance traits relevant to character development?

Cognition

Misinformation, Social Media, and the Method of Assertion

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on July 8, 2024

Too often social media transmit and repeat misinformation without context or attribution, depriving recipients of one of the principal grounds for assessing its believability.

Too often social media transmit and repeat misinformation without context or attribution, depriving recipients of one of the principal grounds for assessing its believability.

Behavioral Economics

How Psychology Provoked a Revolution in Economics

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on April 15, 2024

Psychological experiments on human judgment under uncertainty showed that people often stray from presumptions about rational economic agents.

Psychological experiments on human judgment under uncertainty showed that people often stray from presumptions about rational economic agents.

Religion

Were Neanderthals Religious?

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on January 29, 2024

Recent archaeological discoveries suggest that Neanderthals had far richer symbolic lives than earlier researchers had imagined—and might even have had religious proclivities.

Recent archaeological discoveries suggest that Neanderthals had far richer symbolic lives than earlier researchers had imagined—and might even have had religious proclivities.

Religion

Why Religions Seem to Involve Outlandish Beliefs

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on November 7, 2023

Distinguishing between "mundane" and "groupish" beliefs clarifies myriad confusions surrounding the puzzle of religious rationality.

Distinguishing between "mundane" and "groupish" beliefs clarifies myriad confusions surrounding the puzzle of religious rationality.

Cognition

Learning to Read Rewires Brains

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on August 14, 2023

Acquiring the ability to read changes how and where your brain processes faces.

Acquiring the ability to read changes how and where your brain processes faces.

Anxiety

The Psychological Potency of Ritualized Behaviors

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on May 20, 2023

People intuitively judge that ritualized behaviors are causally effective, even without supporting evidence.

People intuitively judge that ritualized behaviors are causally effective, even without supporting evidence.

Religion

Are Religious Developments Predictable?

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on February 28, 2023

Research in the cognitive science of religions suggests that many features of religious forms and religious experiences exhibit regular patterns.

Research in the cognitive science of religions suggests that many features of religious forms and religious experiences exhibit regular patterns.

Spirituality

When People Cannot Understand the Words of the Gods

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on December 2, 2022

Many American Catholics find the Latin Mass, which proceeds with utterances that they do not understand, more reverential than a Mass in the vernacular.

Many American Catholics find the Latin Mass, which proceeds with utterances that they do not understand, more reverential than a Mass in the vernacular.

Attention

How to Make Inflation Invisible

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on September 6, 2022

Because of insufficient attention to ways of hiding inflation, it may have been more pronounced over the past few decades than typically presumed.

Because of insufficient attention to ways of hiding inflation, it may have been more pronounced over the past few decades than typically presumed.

Cognition

The Need for 6E Cognitive Science

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on June 27, 2022

Attention to the emotional and evolved character of cognition will enrich accounts of the mind.

Attention to the emotional and evolved character of cognition will enrich accounts of the mind.

Religion

A Link Between Religion and Education Among Working-Class Men

Robert N. McCauley Ph.D. on April 2, 2022

Involvement in a local religious community provides the social support that many working-class men lack.

Involvement in a local religious community provides the social support that many working-class men lack.

Frameworks from traditional religious studies and from the cognitive science of religions provide complementary accounts of the attractions of the Marvel superhero movies.