While there are other examples we could end on, it pays to finish with an example that sheds further light on what “religion” actually means, particularly when it comes to belief and hope in unseen forces. To that we turn to an unlikely source: the humble, ubiquitous pigeon. And, we turn to couple scientific experiment that more or less provoked behavior in pigeons that could be interpreted as religious — at least to the human eye.
A paper published in 1948 (via Hanover College Psychology Department) describes an experiment whereby a pigeon received food every 15 seconds regardless of their behavior. But, because the pigeon didn’t know what caused the distribution of food, and apparently assumed that it received food based on its own behavior, the pigeon started engaging in seemingly random sets of physical motions in order to produce the food. This included hopping from foot to foot. In other words, and as Nautilus further explains: The pigeon exhibited superstitious behavior, i.e., a type of ritualism meant to illicit a change in the natural world — an admittedly far less flattering way to describe religion than communing with the divine, but one which still fits the definition of religion, even ritual magic. It stands to reason that plenty of other animals might wind up doing the same in similar circumstances.
The same study, it should be noted, also pointed to a connection between apparently displays of religiosity and drug use. Pigeons given hallucinogenic drugs displayed a posture indicating, “surrender, wonder, and awe before a supreme being,” according to the 1977 paper, Religious Behavior in Animals and Man: Drug-Induced Effects published in the Journal of Drug Issues.
