[bluekeybox]

Yes except the God gene hypothesis posits that we evolved to worship something (anything really), while I believe that we evolved to worship specifically other individuals (and God is just a byproduct of abstract thought combined with propensity for belief in magic powers of certain individuals).

The #2 and #4 were probably the driving factors (selected for by evolutionary pressure) for structuring the brain such that #1 and #3 also became possible as consequences. I don't literally believe in the God gene because I think that religious and mystical thinking are simply corollaries to possessing a brain structured for belief in magical power of other (attractive or otherwise powerful or desirable) individuals or even objects (idols).

I like to imagine this as nodes on a network where nodes are individuals/objects and each connection is a desired property linking the individual/object to other desired individuals/objects. Obviously, some nodes will be more connected than others. Our brains interpret (scan) this network, and past a certain threshold (with very densely connected nodes -- associated with many desired characteristics), religious/magical thinking is triggered such that our brains are led to believe that the very densely connected nodes are so powerful they are out of this world.

I thought about this long enough that I no longer find religious thinking perplexing even though I am a staunch atheist. Some people understand/understood how to trigger this religious response -- those people are/were prophets, founders of religions (Hubbard etc.) and, believe it or not, pop stars and certain state leaders... This is also why I think there is a serious danger that a strong AI may learn to exploit this bug in our brain...

[kylemaxwell]

That's essentially a very literal interpretation of the phrase "cult of personality."

[bluekeybox]

Correct, except I see cult of personality (usually mentioned in context of pop culture idols or state leaders) as a wider pattern (including family members, imaginary gods, and romantic interests); my hypothesis is that cult of personality-related traits first evolved as a way to ease building of trust between individuals -- starting as early as children trusting their parents to bring food etc. -- and also as one of primary ways in which potential mates were sought out. When this propensity to imagining other individuals as possessing magical powers was combined with abstract thought, creation of totems, idols, and gods followed. Some smarter individuals probably eventually grasped the potential that control of this process would bring and created organized religion. It seems to me that Abrahamic-type religion (single god, typically imagined as an old man) arose concordantly with the establishment of agriculture, during a time when a settled lifestyle shifted generational power balance towards the elderly who then attempted to perpetuate its influence using organized religion.