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That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures. Religion is socially based, we're crowd followers mostly.

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I'm showing my ignorance, but I can't think of an ancient godless culture. The ancient Egytians certainly believed at the very least, in an after life. Can you provide an example of an ancient non-religious culture?

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This is just a guess, but perhaps the godless cultures lost out to those with gods. Perhaps the tendency to postulate a god (or gods) is a life-preserving trait.