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Hand of the gods in human civilization

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Cross-cultural experiments find that belief in moralistic, knowledgeable and punishing gods promotes cooperation with strangers, supporting a role for religion in the expansion of human societies. See Letter p.327

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Figure 1: Weighing of the heart.

The Trustees of the British Museum

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dominic D. P. Johnson is in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UQ, UK.,

    Dominic D. P. Johnson

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  1. Dominic D. P. Johnson
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Correspondence to Dominic D. P. Johnson.

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Johnson, D. Hand of the gods in human civilization. Nature 530, 285–286 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16879

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