It is widely held that intuitive dualism—an implicit default mode of thought that takes minds to be separable from bodies and capable of independent existence—is a human universal. Among the findings taken to support universal intuitive dualism is a pattern of evidence in which “psychological” traits (knowledge, desires) are judged more likely to continue after death than bodily or “biological” traits (perceptual, physiological, and bodily states). Here, we present cross-cultural evidence from six study populations, including non-Western societies with diverse belief systems, that shows that while this pattern exists, the overall pattern of responses nonetheless does not support intuitive dualism in afterlife beliefs. Most responses of most participants across all cultures tested were not dualist. While our sample is in no way intended to capture the full range of human societies and afterlife beliefs, it captures a far broader range of cultures than in any prior study, and thus puts the case for afterlife beliefs as evidence for universal intuitive dualism to a strong test. Based on these findings, we suggest that while dualist thinking is a possible mode of thought enabled by evolved human psychology, such thinking does not constitute a default mode of thought. Rather, our data support what we will call intuitive materialism—the view that the underlying intuitive systems for reasoning about minds and death produce as a default judgment that mental states cease to exist with bodily death.

中文翻译：

---

直觉二元论和来世信仰：一项跨文化研究

人们普遍认为直觉二元论——一种将思想与身体分开并能够独立存在的隐含默认思维模式——是人类的普遍性。在支持普遍直觉二元论的研究结果中，有一种证据模式，其中“心理”特征（知识、欲望）比身体或“生物”特征（感知、生理和身体状态）更有可能在死后继续存在。在这里，我们提供了来自六个研究人群的跨文化证据，包括具有不同信仰体系的非西方社会，表明虽然这种模式存在，但总体反应模式并不支持来世信仰中的直觉二元论。在所有接受测试的文化中，大多数参与者的大多数反应都不是二元论的。虽然我们的样本绝不打算涵盖所有人类社会和来世信仰，但它涵盖的文化范围比之前的任何研究都要广泛得多，因此将来世信仰作为普遍直觉二元论的证据强测试。基于这些发现，我们认为虽然二元思维是进化的人类心理学启用的一种可能的思维模式，但这种思维并不构成默认的思维模式。相反，我们的数据支持我们所说的 这种思维并不构成默认的思维模式。相反，我们的数据支持我们所说的 这种思维并不构成默认的思维模式。相反，我们的数据支持我们所说的直觉唯物主义——一种观点，即用于推理思想和死亡的潜在直觉系统作为默认判断产生，即精神状态随着身体的死亡而不再存在。