Human ageing and the origins of religion

During the evolution of hominids, the population could be sustained even with an expectation of life at birth of less than 20 years. Under these circumstances very few individuals reached old age. In these hunter-gatherer communities, altruistic behaviour was encouraged because it increased the likelihood of survival, whereas self-interest did not. An early moral code benefited the community as a whole. As social evolution progressed, the chances of survival increased, and for the first time very elderly individuals appeared. However, the reward for survival to old age was merely decrepitude and death. Under these circumstances, new incentives became a social necessity, and these took the form of a belief in an eternal afterlife. Religion then became the basis for the moral code, and it provided an assurance of continual survival after death.