Religion functions as humanity's first luxury belief system—a form of cognitive indulgence that became possible only when agricultural surplus freed societies from the immediate demands of survival. Before farming, human mental resources were entirely consumed by practical concerns: tracking game, reading weather patterns, identifying food sources, and navigating social dynamics necessary for group survival. The emergence of settled agriculture created unprecedented cognitive leisure time, allowing humans to engage in metaphysical speculation about invisible agents and cosmic purpose for the first time in human history. Religion represents what happens when societies become wealthy enough to support widespread philosophical contemplation but not yet sophisticated enough to pursue rigorous empirical methods.

Contemporary religious belief perfectly exemplifies luxury thinking—elaborate theological systems maintained by people insulated from genuine survival pressures. Modern believers can spend countless hours debating doctrinal minutiae, attending lengthy services, and constructing complex theodicies precisely because they live in societies that have solved basic material problems. Religious adherence correlates inversely with immediate hardship: when people face genuine crisis, their cognitive resources shift rapidly toward practical problem-solving rather than supernatural speculation. The global pattern is unmistakable—the most religiously devout societies tend to hover at the economic threshold where basic needs are met but educational and material security remain limited. Religion thrives in this narrow band where people have enough surplus to engage in metaphysical thinking but insufficient intellectual development to recognize such thinking as cognitive luxury rather than profound insight.

i dont believe in that crap

tl;dr

>>511210659
Religion is the midwit position—smart enough to ask big questions about existence, not smart enough to accept uncertainty or pursue rigorous answers. Hunter-gatherers had no cognitive bandwidth for gods due to survival demands. Religion emerged when agricultural surplus created mental leisure time, making metaphysical speculation a luxury belief system for people wealthy enough to philosophize but not sophisticated enough to recognize they're just making comfortable lies to avoid existential anxiety.

>>511210798
In the past it was simple: if you transgressed and threatened the stability of the clan, you were exiled or your head was bashed in with a rock. There was no need to threaten people with a punishment from invisible beings.

>>511211087
Early agricultural peoples were smart enough to recognize social coordination problems but too cognitively cowardly to solve them rationally. Religion wasn't a necessary stepping stone—it was a detour into fantasy that delayed human intellectual progress by millennia. Modern secular societies didn't evolve from religious ones; they succeeded despite religious contamination by finally abandoning supernatural frameworks in favor of reason-based institutions. Religion was never necessary—it was always just the midwit's refuge from the intellectual demands of building genuinely rational civilizations.

Thankfully, atheists are quickly dying out.

>>511211840
Desperate cope from someone who can't engage the actual arguments. The data shows exactly the opposite—religious adherence is declining rapidly in developed nations as education levels rise and material security increases. The most educated, prosperous societies consistently trend toward secularism, while religious belief concentrates in regions with lower educational attainment and economic development.

This response perfectly demonstrates the psychological fragility that characterizes religious thinking. When confronted with arguments they can't refute intellectually, believers retreat into wishful thinking about demographic trends rather than addressing the substance. It's the same cognitive pattern that leads them to believe in cosmic justice and divine intervention—when reality doesn't conform to their preferences, they simply declare that reality will eventually change to validate their worldview.