Science News

huffingtonpost.com - At the Bar Mitzvah, I couldn't help but think that the tribe had done this young man a great service, literally surrounding him with family and friends expressing loving affirmation and setting high expectations for his future.

Religious rites like baptism make psychological sense, the article suggests. Says Lee: "Cleansing is about the removal of residues." By washing the hands, taking a shower, or even thinking of doing so, "people can rid themselves of a sense of immorality, lucky or unlucky feelings, or doubt about a decision. The bodily experience of removing physical residues can provide the basis of removing more abstract mental residues."

Got Absorption? Toward a Neuroanthropology of Ritual and Play