Was Religion Originally Created for the Greater Good? A Utilitarian Interpretation.

This video is part of the Descriptive Utilitarianism playlist where we argue that Utilitarianism is prominently present in Human behavior. As a matter of fact, Utilitarian tendencies can be found cross-culturally and at all observed time frames of human existence.
Maybe the emergent empirical phenomenon we call human morality could be largely explained under the utilitarian paradigm?

Abstract:
Most anthropologists believe that every human society has adopted some form of religion. Furthermore, every religion seems inexorably tied to the ethical sphere. In this video, we propose a Utilitarian interpretation of the origins of religion and argue that it could have been engineered as a scheme to achieve the perceived greater good.
In particular, the invention of divine rules simplifies moral issues and plays on the fabric of human nature leveraging the tendency of humans to unconsciously copy members of the same community. In addition, the invention of an all-seeing God could have been a powerful incentive to behave lawfully in societies where law enforcement was scarce. From the precepts to the rituals, most aspects of religion have purposes more relevant to the increase of human well-being than the divine.

Other Thoughts:

1) Nothing of real substance for now, I think I could have done a couple of things better but that is always the case. Maybe I should have explained more why rules seem to mesh nicely with human features; aside from being easier to understand and spread, societal rules are unconsciously adopted by humans (even by those who care little about morality) this makes them an extremely powerful tool to influence human behavior.
Rules can make people, who have no will or time (or predisposition) to reason on moral issues, act in their own interest and that of society. They can do a lot of good if specified correctly.

2) The video is speculative in nature as is all the descriptive utilitarianism playlist. It's nice (and fun) to try our hand at inferences but they should be taken with a grain of salt.

3) The video is hard to grasp if one does not appreciate the importance of rules in a utilitarian framework. Of course, religion is readily associated with deontology since the precepts are deontological in nature but they could have been specified in such a deontological way for utilitarian reasons. Argh! what I am saying is probably hard to understand but I think I have said what I mean as clearly as I can!!

Citations:

God is not One, Stephen Prothero, 2010.

The Bible.

Religion and Crime Studies: Assessing What Has Been Learned,
Melvina Sumter, Frank Wood, Ingrid Whitaker, and Dianne Berger-Hill, Religions, 2018.

Religious Coping Among Diverse Religions:
Commonalities and Divergences
Hisham Abu-Raiya Kenneth I. Pargament, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality,
2015.

Epidemiology of Seafood-Associated Infections in the United States
Martha Iwamoto, Tracy Ayers, Barbara E. Mahon, and David L. Swerdlow,
clinical microbiology reviews, 2010.

Credit to Reddit user
babyshark1044 for the study on shellfish.

[bret]

I like this utilitarian interpretation of the origin of religion, but I think that a Darwinian interpretation would be more accurate. I personally have the feeling that most myths and religious practices develop naturally, spontaneously, pseudo-randomly, rather than being "created" by man for some intended end. They spread more like memes, changing in whatever way is most likely to stick in people's minds. They also evolve with the people they are associated with, because if one culture has a belief that is detrimental to them, they are less likely to survive than a culture whose beliefs exist increase their prosperity. There is a better than not chance that human psychology also adapted to these religions especially considering sexual selection is often regulated by religious standards. For the record, I think a similar process could describe the genesis of morality and moral intuitions, with utilitarianism arising as an empirical way of describing why our moral intuitions are arranged the way they are.

[rgbkiller]

this makes me think different about religion. great video!

[NoNeedFor_A_Name]

Good video, I'd like to see this hypothesis unitarianism and religion reach further back into the Ancient. Our species experienced a tremendous shift in the concept of good when our sources of food stopped moving around. Both religion and utility ask humans to stifle evolutionary fitness characteristics that keep us alive before agriculture in exchange for peace within a specific time place.

[kattenelvis]

Very interesting ideas! Excellent video