3min chapter

ROCKING OUR PRIORS cover image

Why Are Most Humans Religious? Professor Robin Dunbar

ROCKING OUR PRIORS

CHAPTER

The Axial Age Religions and the Population Explosion

After the ice age retreated 10,000 years ago or so, there was a massive population explosion in North Africa. It created fractiousness with neighbors raiding each other. So they started living in villages for protection - but you had this problem of how to prevent people basically killing each other when they're living in such close physical proximity. And at this point is when you see the rise of doctrinal religions and 5,000 years later, maybe the rise of the axial age religions.

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