Our Gods: Variation in Supernatural Minds

In this chapter we examine 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 which endorse omniscient supernatural agents that are highly concerned with moral behavior will emphasize the importance of shared beliefs (cultural consensus), whereas communities which possess supernatural agents with limited social knowledge who 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.