Joseph Watts

Joseph Watts is a Research Fellow at the University of Otago, New Zealand as well as an External Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. He works on how cultural, cognitive, and evolutionary processes interact to shape the way that people think about and interact with the world. Much of his research uses cross-cultural comparative methods to test theories about the cultural evolution of religious systems in human history.

Recent Posts

April 11, 2016 in Culture

Why did early human societies practice violent human sacrifice?

Is is possible that human sacrifice might have served some social function, and actually benefited at least some members of a society?
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April 5, 2015 in Religion

Did Fear In Supernatural Punishment Build Complex Societies?

Over half of the world’s population currently follow one of two closely related religions, Christianity and Islam. The concept of a Big God, who actively monitors human behaviour and punishes…
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