Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia
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Watts, Joseph; Greenhill, Simon; Atkinson, Quentin D.; Gray, Russell; Currie, Thomas E.; Bulbulia, Joseph
Description
Supernatural belief presents an explanatory challenge to evolutionary theorists� it is both costly and prevalent. One influential functional explanation claims that the imagined threat of supernatural punishment can suppress selfishness and enhance cooperation. Specifically, morally concerned supreme deities or �moralizing high gods� have been argued to reduce free-riding in large social groups, enabling believers to build the kind of complex societies that define modern humanity. Previous...[Show more]
Collections | ANU Research Publications |
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Date published: | 2015 |
Type: | Journal article |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/103612 |
Source: | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences |
DOI: | 10.1098/rspb.2014.2556 |
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