S & R, part 2 - Anthropomorphism

Steward Guthrie, anthropologist, "argues that the belief in supernatural beings is a result of an illusion that arises from our tendency to project human qualities onto the world. ... Anthropomorphism is an adaptive trait that enhanced our ancestors' chances of survival... [mistaking] a tree creaking ... for a human assailant, he suffered no adverse consequences ... Over millennia, as natural selection bolstered our unconscious anthropomorphic tendencies, they reached beyond specific objects and events to encompass all of nature", leading to the creation of gods. (p.54)