Before becoming a tool for social management (e.g., dietary laws), religion's primary function was to provide hope and meaning in a world dominated by death and uncertainty. This psychological need for an 'aspirational hope' was the original driver of its invention.

Shared experiences like concerts or sports create what sociologist Emile Durkheim called 'collective effervescence.' This feeling of being part of something vast and unified is a powerful form of awe that synchronizes individuals and forges them into cooperative, bonded groups.

People have a deep-seated psychological tendency to project consciousness and form emotional bonds with non-sentient things, from cartoon characters like Jiminy Cricket to fictional heroes. This innate drive means that as AIs become more sophisticated, the emergence of AI-centric religions and people genuinely worshipping their AI is a near certainty.

As humans became intelligent, the risk of tribes fracturing from conflict increased. Religion served an evolutionary purpose by providing a "glue"—a higher authority cited by a leader—to maintain social cohesion and prevent collapse.

MRI studies show that moments of transcendent connection activate the same core neural circuits in all people, whether they are Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or spiritual-not-religious. This "awakened brain" network involves bonding, broad attentional shifts, and a blurring of self-other boundaries, suggesting a universal biological capacity for spirituality.

A key psychological parallel between cults and fervent belief systems like the pursuit of AGI is the feeling they provide. Members feel a sense of awe and wonder, believing they are among a select few who have discovered a profound, world-altering secret that others have not yet grasped.

Unlike other species which rely on pre-programmed instinct, humans' primary evolutionary advantage is culture: the ability to pass down complex, accumulated knowledge across generations. This makes cultural identity a core survival mechanism, which is why people will instinctively fight and die to defend it.

Research demonstrates a fundamental difference between spirituality and religion. Our capacity for transcendent experience is partly innate (one-third), meaning we are born with the neural circuits for it. In contrast, religious affiliation and specific practices are almost entirely environmentally transmitted, like culture or language.

Experiencing awe quiets our ego-focused identity. In experiments, people standing near a T-Rex skeleton later defined themselves with broad, collective terms like "a human" or "a mammal," rather than individualistic traits like "ambitious," demonstrating a shift away from the self.