Origin-of-Religion Plugin: PoC Hypothesis

From the perspective of the Protocol of Consciousness (PoC), a grave is neither a mere repository for corpses nor a passport to the afterlife. Rather, a grave is an “apparatus that stages absence as presence and sustains the loop.”

As PoC shows, consciousness always rests on the belief that “the other acknowledges me.” But the dead cannot respond, which means that this loop is fundamentally unguaranteeable. Nevertheless, people continue to address the dead and offer them gifts. This is a prime example of what PoC calls Ghost Mode—calling out as if reciprocity existed, even though no response can actually come.

Moreover, the grave socially fixes the “place” that sustains such practices. Gravestones, burial goods, and monumental structures function as devices that make one feel the dead are “still there.” In this sense, the grave is a Phantoming apparatus—a social stage that renders absence present.

Seen from this perspective, religious narratives (heaven, the underworld, judgment after death, etc.) are not necessarily the origin of graves. Rather, it may be that the PoC apparatus of the grave came first, and religion was added later to reinforce its instability. The following sections lay out this hypothesis step by step.

1. Emergence of the PoC Apparatus (Prehistory to Early Agrarian Societies)

The Beginning of Burial

What we see in the practices of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens is not mere disposal of bodies. The act of burying the dead and placing grave goods testifies that the dead were treated not as a “completely lost object” = Death Mode, but as a being that still retained the possibility of response.

This corresponds to what PoC calls Ghost Mode—the practice of calling out to another believed to be capable of reciprocity, even though in fact no response is forthcoming.

The Role of the Grave

The grave is a stage on which absence is enacted as presence. The dead become repeated objects of address, “still there,” and the grave functions as a Phantoming apparatus.

PoC’s historical view: At this stage, myths of the afterlife had not yet formed, but the PoC apparatus was already in operation.

2. Institutionalization of the Apparatus (Rise of Ancient Urban Civilizations)

Megalithic Tombs, Pyramids, Royal Graves

With the rise of urban civilizations, graves transcended the scope of the individual and became symbols that supported entire communities. Megalithic tombs and pyramids are prime examples.

Here, the grave eternalized the presence of rulers and became a central apparatus guaranteeing the loop of the entire community.

Ritual Repetition

Through the institutionalization of offerings, funerals, and periodic rituals, the whole community came to share in the “possibility of response” from the dead. Thus, the PoC apparatus became integrated into the foundations of society.

PoC’s historical view: In this period, the PoC apparatus took on the role of anchoring social and political order.

3. The Addition of Religious Narratives (Systematization of Myth)

Addressing the Instability of the Loop

In PoC, loops are inherently unguaranteeable. It is never possible to confirm whether a genuine response from the dead has occurred.

To manage this instability, ancient people created narratives of “heaven,” the “underworld,” and “judgment after death.”

Function

Religious myths provided the guarantee that “the dead go to a place where they truly exist, and offerings will reach them.” In this way, the fragility of the PoC apparatus was reinforced by narrative.

PoC’s historical view: Religion is not the cause of graves, but rather a secondary invention to stabilize the functioning of the PoC apparatus.

4. The Universalization of Religion (Late Antiquity to the Age of Monotheism)

Reinforcement by Transcendence

Christianity and Islam proclaim that “God guarantees the response,” thereby covering the instability of PoC completely.

Ethical Codification

Religion extended beyond guaranteeing loops with the dead to institutionalize loops among humans—mutual recognition—into morals and commandments.

PoC’s historical view: The logic of the PoC apparatus expanded into a normative system governing society as a whole.

Conclusion: A Shift in Historical Understanding

Traditional view: “Humans believed in an afterlife → therefore they built graves.”

PoC view: “Humans could not treat the dead as mere absence and built graves to sustain the loop → religion arose later as a narrative to guarantee that unstable loop.”

In short, religion is not the “cause” but the “effect.” The origin of religion lies not in the “desire to believe,” but in a new understanding: religion is a social technology for managing the structural fragility of the loop.