Human

=== Religion and spirituality ===
{{Main|Religion|Spirituality}}
[[File:Brooklyn Museum 1992.133.4 Figure of Shango on Horseback.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Shango]], the [[Orisha]] of fire, lightning, and thunder, in the [[Yoruba religion]], depicted on horseback]]
[[Definition of religion|Definitions of religion]] vary;<ref name="Idinopulos-1998">{{cite journal|vauthors=Idinopulos TA|date=1998|title=What Is Religion?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24460821|journal=CrossCurrents|volume=48|issue=3|pages=366–380|jstor=24460821|issn=0011-1953|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=13 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013014742/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24460821|url-status=live}}</ref> according to one definition, a religion is a [[belief]] system concerning the [[supernatural]], [[sacred]] or [[divinity|divine]], and practices, [[values]], institutions and [[ritual]]s associated with such belief. Some religions also have a [[moral code]]. The [[Evolutionary psychology of religion|evolution]] and the history of the [[Evolutionary origin of religions|first religions]] have become areas of active scientific investigation.<ref name="Emmons2003">{{cite journal | vauthors = Emmons RA, Paloutzian RF | title = The psychology of religion | journal = Annual Review of Psychology | volume = 54 | issue = 1 | pages = 377–402 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12171998 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|vauthors=King BJ|date=29 March 2016|title=Chimpanzees: Spiritual But Not Religious?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120080957/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Ball P|title=Complex societies evolved without belief in all-powerful deity|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.17040|journal=Nature News|year=2015|language=en|doi=10.1038/nature.2015.17040|s2cid=183474917|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516165439/https://www.nature.com/news/complex-societies-evolved-without-belief-in-all-powerful-deity-1.17040|url-status=live}}</ref> Credible evidence of religious behaviour dates to the [[Middle Paleolithic]] era (45–200 [[Tya (unit)|thousand years ago]]).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Culotta E | author-link = Barbara J. King | title = Origins. On the origin of religion | journal = Science | volume = 326 | issue = 5954 | pages = 784–787 | date = November 2009 | pmid = 19892955 | doi = 10.1126/science.326_784 | bibcode = 2009Sci...326..784C }}</ref> It may have evolved to play a role in helping enforce and encourage cooperation between humans.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Atkinson QD, Bourrat P|title=Beliefs about God, the afterlife and morality support the role of supernatural policing in human cooperation|url=https://www.academia.edu/3430406|journal=Evolution and Human Behavior|year=2011|language=en|volume=32|issue=1|pages=41–49|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.07.008|issn=1090-5138|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015031401/https://www.academia.edu/3430406/Beliefs_about_God_the_afterlife_and_morality_support_the_role_of_supernatural_policing_in_human_cooperation|url-status=live}}</ref>

Religion manifests in diverse forms.<ref name="Idinopulos-1998" /> Religion can include a belief in [[life after death]],<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Walker GC |date=1 August 2000|title=Secular Eschatology: Beliefs about Afterlife |journal=OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying|language=en|volume=41|issue=1|pages=5–22|doi=10.2190/Q21C-5VED-GYW6-W091|s2cid=145686249|issn=0030-2228}}</ref> the [[origin of life]], the nature of the [[universe]] ([[religious cosmology]]) and its [[ultimate fate]] ([[eschatology]]), and [[morality|moral]] or [[Religious ethics|ethical teachings]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McKay R, Whitehouse H | title = Religion and morality | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 141 | issue = 2 | pages = 447–473 | date = March 2015 | pmid = 25528346 | pmc = 4345965 | doi = 10.1037/a0038455 }}</ref> Views on [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendence]] and [[immanence]] vary substantially; traditions variously espouse [[monism]], [[deism]], [[pantheism]], and [[theism]] (including [[polytheism]] and [[monotheism]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110698343/html|title=God or the Divine? Religious Transcendence Beyond Monism and Theism, Between Personality and Impersonality|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|date=2023|doi=10.1515/9783110698343 |isbn=978-3-11-069834-3 |editor1=Bernhard Nitsche|editor2=Marcus Schmücker}}</ref>

Although measuring religiosity is difficult,<ref name="Hall2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hall DE, Meador KG, Koenig HG | title = Measuring religiousness in health research: review and critique | journal = Journal of Religion and Health | volume = 47 | issue = 2 | pages = 134–163 | date = June 2008 | pmid = 19105008 | doi = 10.1007/s10943-008-9165-2 | pmc = 8823950 | type = Submitted manuscript | s2cid = 25349208 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1232820 | access-date = 30 July 2022 | archive-date = 30 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210130130503/https://zenodo.org/record/1232820 | url-status = live }}</ref> a majority of humans profess some variety of religious or spiritual belief.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Sherwood H|date=27 August 2018|title=Religion: why faith is becoming more and more popular|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next|access-date=8 October 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301113948/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015 the plurality were [[Christians|Christian]] followed by [[Muslims]], [[Hindus]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Hackett C, McClendon D|date=2017|title=Christians remain world's largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US|archive-date=24 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124021738/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2015, about 16%, or slightly under 1.2 billion humans, were [[irreligious]], including those with no religious beliefs or no identity with any religion.<ref>{{cite web|date=5 April 2017|title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218030628/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}}</ref>