Connor Wood, at Science on Religion:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scienceonreligion\/2014\/01\/does-atheism-arise-from-wealth\/#more-1015<\/a><\/p>\n Because ritual and conformance are easy.<\/p>\n \nThere\u2019s good evidence that atheism and secularism are much more costly<\/i>, in terms of sheer energy expenditure, than religious ways of organizing society.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Conclusion:<\/p>\n \nSo is atheism a luxury of the wealthy? Yes. But this isn\u2019t simply because the wealthy don\u2019t need the comforts of a posited afterlife. It\u2019s also because materially comfortable people have more energy to expend<\/i> on negotiating their social worlds. Ritual and religion use intuition and demonstration; they prioritize efficiency and clarity of signals. Secularism uses logic and abstract reason; it\u2019s comfortable with ambiguous social roles and signals. In part, this is because it can afford to be.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There’s also the idea that religion is easy, science is hard; I have a whole book on this theme I will read soon and blog upon. It’s easier to conform to your familial or social group, than to be independent and think for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Connor Wood, at Science on Religion: http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scienceonreligion\/2014\/01\/does-atheism-arise-from-wealth\/#more-1015 Because ritual and conformance are easy. There\u2019s good evidence that atheism and secularism are much more costly, in terms of sheer energy expenditure, than religious ways of organizing society. Conclusion: So is atheism … Continue reading