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Religion Evolving - Cultural, Cognitive, and Ecological Dynamics - Benjamin Grant Purzycki

What do Gods Want?

Religion Evolving - Cultural, Cognitive, and Ecological Dynamics - Benjamin Grant Purzycki

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Chapter 4 examines variation in the contents of supernatural minds across cultures and the social correlates of this variation. We first provide a sketch of how humans are capable of representing supernatural minds and emphasize the significance of the types of knowledge attributed to supernatural agents. We then argue that the contents of supernatural minds as represented cross-culturally will primarily rest on or between two poles: knowledge of people’s moral behavior and knowledge of people’s ritualized costly behavior. Communities that endorse omniscient supernatural agents that are highly concerned with moral behavior will emphasize the importance of shared beliefs (cultural consensus), whereas communities whose supernatural agents possess limited social knowledge and are concerned with ritual actions will emphasize shared behavioral patterns (social consensus). We conclude with a brief discussion about the contexts in which these patterns occur.

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