cyberdad wrote:
The god-concept is very old, harking back probably to the plains of Africa when our ancestors thought our fate was in the hands of an all-powerful being/diety/spirit.
The moment we become sentient in childhood we attribute our existence to our parents so likewise primitive people assume they couldn't have just accidentally appeared on the earth so they likewise attribute their existence to some unknown sky father and earth mother.
Tribal peoples who live at relatively low population densities often tend to have lots of little things to worship; animism and ancestor worship is common and often anything genuinely amounting to a god is lacking. People living in rural areas until quite recently tended to still have a lot of superstitions and beliefs tied to all sorts of beings far too weak to be considered gods, but still 'powerful' compared to people.
I agree the concept of a god is old, but I don't think it emerges until after there are individual people within a society with overwhelming power and that effectively it represents humans mirroring their society onto their understanding of how the supernatural must work.
I'm not absolutely certain because outsiders would likely describe an important and prominent spiritual being as a god by analogy even if the relationship had with it was different enough to question whether or not that's the ideal way to describe it.
Then again the definition can be loosened until every inanimate object's spirit is a god which annihilates my whole case.
_________________
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
You can't advance to the next level without stomping on a few Koopas.