2025 - Present.

An overview of the study of religions as cultural phenomena, with an emphasis on scientific explanations for what religions have in common and for the differences between them.

Religious rituals and supernatural concepts are found in all known human societies. This includes ritual practices like exorcism, blood sacrifices and going to church, as well as supernatural concepts like karmic forces, creation accounts, and mischievous demigods. This paper uses ethnographic and empirical studies to answer three big questions about human behaviour and religion. First, why does the content and importance of religious systems vary so much across societies? Second, are there general rules that explain human behaviour across societies, or can human behaviour only be understood within specific cultural contexts? Third, what are the religious systems of future societies likely to look like? Topics covered include sacrificial rites, social conflict, economic exchange, social control, and revitalization movements.