Page |104 nonhuman phenomena. In this way, of mind in other agents, including the anthropomorphic language incorporates presence of goal-directed agency, human society in a web of ethical emotions such as anger, guilt, or pride, a obligations that connect to the natural capacity for self-awareness, and free environment and, by imaginative will. As Nick Epley demonstrated in the extension, to the universe as a whole. preceding chapter, the perception of Although the drive toward social these distinctively human traits—“seeing connection is a general human trait, invisible minds”—1s a psychological however, persons neither seek nor find mechanism with tremendous influence satisfaction in a generalized sense of on the way humans order and understand connection. Instead, satisfying social their social environment. connections are sought and experienced Mind perception is such a in terms of the social norms and values powerful tool of inductive inference Of articular historical and omonptisen however, that it regularly crosses the line SCHHNS. LIKEWISE, anTOpon ° it has itself drawn between the human as an inferred social connection to the and the nonhuman. Scholars from a nonhuman, takes shape and becomes wide array of disciplines have long persuasive in terms of historically and observed humans’ anthropomorphic culturally specific assumptions about ; societ and social relations This tendency to see nonhuman things or chapter will. therefore step back from events as humanlike, imbuing the real or : a” , imagined behavior of nonhuman “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” phenomena with human motivations in order to describe how contemporary agency, and emotions. By perceiving seltalarsinp MSOC ial neuroserence and in the world in terms of human capacities the history of religions provides a fresh and social relationships point of view on the workings of anthropomorphism builds a complex oat tt tered eae and then system of analogies that uses knowledge Vi Vy . oe 4s .