Category Archives: Ch.11) A Throne of Grooming

Envision a person praying complimentary words or singing praise to their god. “God, you are the greatest and I love you.” From a psychological perspective one might ask, What are they doing? Is there a naturalistic explanation for this type … Continue reading →

Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder Consider all the works thy hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed; Refrain: Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to … Continue reading →

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. (Exodus 34:8) How can a person groom a god? While chimpanzees and other primates can reach out and touch conspecifics, what do you do in the case of a noncorporeal entity, … Continue reading →

“Thus, in the Old World species which have been studied under natural conditions, there appears to be a correlation between the amount of allogrooming behavior and the steepness of the dominance slope within the troop.” – John Sparks (11) “An … Continue reading →

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool. (Psalms 99:5) Nonverbal touch and gesture are essential means by which animals communicate with one another. Including our kind. In his book, Collision of Wills: How Ambiguity About Social Rank … Continue reading →

“Primates groom one another to cement bonds, to reconcile conflicts, to solicit copulations, to calm distress, and (apparently) to pass the time.” – William McGrew (24) Human beings spend zero time fingering through each other’s hair apparently in search of … Continue reading →

“A monkey or ape is most likely to select as a grooming partner an individual with who he (or she) already has a close, supportive relationship, or with whom a better relationship would be advantageous. And the chosen partner will … Continue reading →

When a person does something nice for/to us, we tend to feel indebted to them. Their “tit” results in either an immediate “tat” response, or the tacit holding of a tat-I.O.U.(35) It’s human nature. And it’s apparently chimpanzee nature, too. … Continue reading →

“It has already been shown that allogrooming can be used as an appeasement gesture in lower primates, and this incident [among chimpanzees] seemed to reflect a currying of favour with the leader by a subordinate.” – John Sparks (39) To … Continue reading →

A crucial element of my Almighty Alpha thesis is grooming behavior. Namely, is it manifest in religion? Does a “grooming instinct” play a role in the formation and persistence of religious ideation and ritual? Furthermore, how might we account for … Continue reading →