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Big Gods

How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict [Paperback]

by Ara Norenzayan

    • Author

      Ara Norenzayan

    • Book Format

      Paperback

    • Publisher

      Princeton University Press

    • Published

      September 2015

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      £13.46

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      Big Gods

      Today's Price £13.46



      Product Description

      How did human societies scale up from tight-knit groups of hunter-gatherers to the large, anonymous, cooperative societies of today--even though anonymity is the enemy of cooperation? How did organized religions with "Big Gods"--the great monotheistic and polytheistic faiths--spread to colonize most minds in the world? In Big Gods, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization answer each other. Sincere faith in watchful Big Gods unleashed unprecedented cooperation within ever-expanding groups, yet at the same time it introduced a new source of potential conflict between competing groups. And in some parts of the world, societies with atheist majorities--some of the most cooperative and prosperous in the world--have climbed religion's ladder, and then kicked it away. Big Gods answers fundamental questions about the origins and spread of world religions and helps us understand the rise of cooperative societies without belief in gods.

      Specification

      • Author

        Ara Norenzayan

      • Book Format

        Paperback

      • Publisher

        Princeton University Press

      • Published

        September 2015

      • Weight

        364g

      • Page Count

        264

      • Dimensions

        147 x 224 x 19 mm

      • ISBN

        9780691169743

      • ISBN-10

        0691169748

      • Eden Code

        4361354

      More Information

      • Author/Creator: Ara Norenzayan

      • ISBN: 9780691169743

      • Publisher: Princeton University Press

      • Release Date: September 2015

      • Weight: 364g

      • Dimensions: 147 x 224 x 19 mm

      • Eden Code: 4361354


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