The idea here is that cultural evolution, driven by intergroup competition, favored the emergence and spread of supernatural beliefs that increasingly endowed gods with concerns about human action and the power to punish and reward. These beliefs evolved not because they are accurate representations of reality but because they help communities, organizations, and societies beat their competitors.

Joseph Patrick Henrich, The WEIRDest people in the world: How the west became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous, New York, 2020, p. 146