Religion through an evolutionary lens: An ascetic practice model in dialogue with adaptation and byproduct theories

Summary

Religious practices, including prayer and meditation, activate pleasure-related neural circuits, showing that asceticism does not conflict with the pursuit of pleasure. The study suggests that these practices help sustain well-being even with low resource consumption, framing them as a way to 'find joy in hardship.' It also posits that faith may arise from these practices rather than being their initial cause, positioning deities as secondary to the core of religion.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Religious practices have long been studied for their psychological effects, yet their relationship to human pleasure systems remains underexplored. This study investigates how practices such as prayer, scripture chanting, asceticism, and meditation interact with neural pleasure circuits. Through neurobiological analysis and psychological evidence, we examine responses documented during various religious activities. Results from the literature indicate that these practices effectively activate pleasure-related circuits, revealing that ascetic religious practices do not inherently conflict with humanity’s tendency to seek pleasure. Our analysis indicates that religion’s evolutionary adaptability manifests in its ability to sustain well-being despite low resource consumption. We conclude that religious practices can be reinterpreted as a strategy of “finding joy in hardship,” and propose that faith may emerge as a consequence of religious practice rather than its cause, positioning deities as peripheral institutional tools rather than religion’s core. Rather than offering a definitive synthesis of existing theories, this paper positions the Ascetic Practice Model as an evolutionary-friendly framework that invites dialogue with adaptationist and byproduct accounts.

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