Decades later, McNeill studied the role that synchronized movement—in dance, religious ritual, and military training—has played in history. In Keeping Together in Time,61 he concludes that human societies since the beginning of recorded history have used synchronized movement to create harmony and cohesion within groups, sometimes in the service of preparing for hostilities with other groups. McNeill’s conclusion suggests that synchronized movement and chanting might be evolved mechanisms for activating the altruistic motivations created in the process of group selection. The extreme
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