Belief System Disintegration: Evolutionary Insights from Bergman's Det sjunde inseglet. Issue 8 (17th November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Larsen, Mads
• Is Part Of: World futures. Volume 75:Issue 8(2019)
• Page Start: 632
• Page End: 652
• Publication Date: 2019-11-17
• Subjects: Evolutionary literary theory -- posthumanism -- crisis of story -- Ingmar Bergman; Philosophy -- Periodicals; Forecasting -- Periodicals; 303
• DOI: 10.1080/02604027.2019.1671093
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-4027

Abstract

Abstract : Paradigm transitions come with tremendous risk, as societies can come undone when people stop believing in the imaginary constructs that unite us. The Black Plague's devastation resulted not only from its lethality, but from how its ensuing crisis in faith triggered evolved cognitive systems that lead to tribalism, self-destructive despair, and attacks on authorities and minorities. This article examines Bergman's film through the lens of evolutionary theory to illustrate the mechanisms that cause people to wreck havoc when we no longer share a vision for the future. The crisis of the 1300s has been compared to challenges we face today.