Monasticism and Evolution

Monasticism is one of the phenomena of Christian life that has been of undoubtable evolutionary significance. From late antiquity until today, with varying intensity, a segment of the population chose not to reproduce - with the exception of those monks who decided to break their vows. To this we must add, at least for the Western church, the celibate priesthood.

Let's think what effect this had on the population. Monastic life probably attracted various types of people:

1. Social misfits of various sorts. E.g., simpletons would often be entrusted to a monastery. Latent homosexuals would choose monastic life over marriage. Rowdy girls would be made into nuns, etc.
   
2. Mystics. Obviously, monasticism attracts deeply religious persons who are willing to give up the world for an ideal.
   
3. Intellectuals. At least in Western Europe, monasteries were the only place that valued scholarship and education. In the Eastern Roman Empire there was both religious and secular scholarship.
   
4. Opportunists. Life in the medieval world was tough for many people. The monastery gave shelter, food, protection from feudals lords, and ample leisure to those who chose it.
   

Thus, it is fairly obvious that monasticism negatively selected for the types of individuals listed above. It would be interesting to speculate how monasticism (and its decline) affected society for each of them:

1. The absence of social misfits probably increased social cohesion. Conversely, social misfits today don't usually choose the monastic outlet and may cause more problems for society. An interesting idea is that the apparent superior sexual license of the West may be due to people with strong sexual appetites did not go to the monastery and were thus positively selected.
2. The separation of mystics probably increased the "rationalists" in (non-monastic) society. It would be tempting to attribute the re-emergence of science to this negative selection against mystics. However, many rationalists and scientists had a religious background, or were mystics themselves. Mysticism and reason can often co-exist in the same individual, e.g., Newton.
3. Monasticism negatively affected the presence of intellectuals in (non-monastic) society. This was most strongly seen in the Western Empire and the Germanic world. Of course, secular intellectualism resurfaced after the Rennaissance. But one can't fail to notice a strong anti-intellectual strand in much of post-Rennaissance civilization, e.g., in the Protestant simplification of Christianity, "love of nature" and anti-technology feeling, the "mad scientist" stereotype, etc.
4. If opportunists of the sort that I've described went to the monastery, then hard-working "honest" people were probably positively selected. The decline of monasticism had the opposite effect.

To assess the evolutionary effect of monasticism, it will be necessary to gather data on its prevalence in various historical periods, as well as on the demography of monks and nuns throughout the ages.