Final answer:
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor theorized that animism, the belief in spiritual beings, was the foundational form of religion, where everyday experiences like dreaming contributed to the development of spiritual beliefs.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, animism, a belief in spiritual beings, was the earliest form of religion. Tylor posited that the simplest, earliest form of religious belief was the animistic perspective, where even inanimate objects and natural phenomena could possess a spiritual essence. This view is based on the idea that human experiences like dreaming, which suggest an existence beyond the physical world, played a crucial role in forming these spiritual beliefs and the human need to find meaning in life subsequently led to the creation of more complex religious systems.