Towards an Evolutionary Science of Sacred Architecture: When Atmosphere Meets Narrative
Religions November 26, 2025 Michael Anthony Arbib
Early human ancestors had protosacred experiences—awe from a mountain, serenity from a grove—long before they had language, architecture, or religion. Depending on an individual's mental set, such experiences could create a sense of ultimacy later interpreted as religious. The cultural evolution of language enabled humans to become question-askers and storytellers, able to pose existential questions and offer group-accepted answers through narratives and ritual scripts. This transition allowed the design of architected sacred spaces that fostered shared community and sacred experience. The paper relates affordances and atmospheres to the aesthetics of space, emphasizing atmospheric flow during rituals, and offers examples from diverse religions and suggestions for empirical investigations.