{"product_id":"big-gods-how-religion-transformed-cooperation-and-conflict-9780691169743","title":"Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA groundbreaking account of how religion made society possible\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHow 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 \u003ci\u003eBig Gods\u003c\/i\u003e, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization answer each other. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSincere 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBig Gods\u003c\/i\u003e answers fundamental questions about the origins and spread of world religions and helps us understand the rise of cooperative societies without belief in gods.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAra Norenzayan is professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. His work has been featured on the BBC and CNN, and in the \"New York Times Magazine.\"\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50719098962194,"sku":"9780691169743","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1732f56d-7df9-4ff5-b2f1-7ec1975e8afc.jpg?v=1734658945","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/big-gods-how-religion-transformed-cooperation-and-conflict-9780691169743","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}