The deification of historical figures and the emergence of priesthoods as a solution to a network coordination problem

ABSTRACT

Why do historical figures sometimes become the object of religious worship? Here, we propose that, above a certain group-size threshold, maintaining a belief in the continued existence of authority figures after their death preserves group coordination efficiency. That is, we argue that coordination activities in larger groups become more effective when they center on symbolic (although formerly real) bearers of authority; for smaller groups, we claim the opposite occurs. Our argument is pursued by way of a collective action model that makes anthropologically plausible assumptions about human sociality. One key finding is the existence of a group-size threshold that marks the difference between the two different collective action regimes, one with and one without the presence of a deified historical figure. Another is that, in larger groups, priest-like castes naturally emerge as a consequence of the benefits of personally identifying with the deified agent.

KEYWORDS:

• Ancestor worship
• priesthood
• deification
• behavioral synchrony
• agent-based model
• group coordination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union FP7 [grant number 288021], the European Union Marie Curie Fellowship [grant number 297854], and the European Research Council Advanced Grant [grant number 295663].