Abstract

Bringing insights from the cognitive science of religion and cultural evolution together, this chapter describes a process of coevolution between escalating societal size and complexity on one hand, and devotional practices to increasingly powerful and interventionist deities, credible displays of faith, and rituals and practices that promote ingroup solidarity and intergroup competition and conflict. Cultural traditions with such features spread at the expense of rival ones, giving shape to the world religions of today. A variety of empirical evidence is discussed in relation to several hypotheses that are guided by this theoretical synthesis.