Gods and governments occupy the same functional niche in human psychology

Evidence

There is growing evidence showing that both in society and also in peoples’ minds, gods and governments occupy a similar niche. Big Gods reign supreme in places where government is corrupt and there is little faith in it. And when trust in government intensifies, religion loses its grip on society. There are at least three explanations for this. First, gods and governments both have surveillance capabilities that facilitate large-scale cooperation and trust. Second, they can both provide comfort in the face of adversity and suffering. Third, they both offer external sources of control and stability when a personal sense of control is under threat. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 566

There is growing evidence showing that both in society and also in peoples’ minds, gods and governments occupy a similar niche. Big Gods reign supreme in places where government is corrupt and there is little faith in it. And when trust in government intensifies, religion loses its grip on society. There are at least three explanations for this. First, gods and governments both have surveillance capabilities that facilitate large-scale cooperation and trust. Second, they can both provide comfort in the face of adversity and suffering. Third, they both offer external sources of control and stability when a personal sense of control is under threat. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 566

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s analytical argument tying Norenzayan’s Big God surveillance mechanism to Father Rodrigues’ omniscient-perceiver psychology and to secular government functions.
• SEED: Angle: how surveillance-based authority (divine or state) functions as an interchangeable partner-choice enforcement mechanism — a bridge between this book and Baumard’s partner choice theory.
• QUESTION: The inverse relationship claims correlational evidence — worth chasing whether the causal direction (weak government causes belief vs. belief causes acceptance of weak government) is established experimentally anywhere.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 566