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Epiphenom | The science of religion and non-belief

The science is in, and God is not the answer

April 8, 2015 By Epiphenom

The Canadian news and current affairs magazine Maclean’s has just run a glowing article claiming that science says ‘God is the answer’ to teen anxiety and health problems. It’s basically a promotional piece for a new book by Lisa Miller, Director of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College. To give you a flavour of the article, take a look at these excerpts: An intensely felt, transcendental sense of a relationship with God, the universe, nature or whatever the individual identifies as… Read more

Religious authority increases the number of donations but decreases the value

March 31, 2015 By Epiphenom

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In a run-down market place in Kabul, Afghanistan, groups of men hang around hoping that someone will offer them a job for the day. But today is different. Today they get an unusual offer. Somebody is willing to pay them a whole days wage (about $9) just to fill out a survey. Of course, many agree, and are taken by bus to the survey station. Once the survey is complete, they get handed their money in a blank envelope. Before… Read more

Thinking about God causes people to take bigger risks… wait, what???

March 7, 2015 By Epiphenom

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A team from Stanford University Graduate School of Business has just published a nice series of studies showing that priming people with the idea of god can increase their appetite for risk. Over at the Friendly Atheist, Rachel Ford did a good write up, leading with the headline conclusion that thinking about god actually causes people to take bigger risks. Slate had the same take, claiming that Thinking about religion makes people take risks. Regular readers of this blog are… Read more

Suicide in Northern Ireland is not linked to religious affiliation

March 4, 2015 By Epiphenom

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Conventionally, religious affiliation is supposed to reduce the risk of suicide. In fact, the worldwide data show a rather patchy picture, probably because the effects of religion on suicide risk depend on the social context. One of the godfathers of the sociology of religion was a guy named Émile Durkheim. At the tail end of the 19th century, he reviewed the scarce statistics available to him and came to the conclusion that Protestants were less likely to commit suicide than… Read more

Is belief in moral progress a substitute for religion?

February 24, 2015 By Epiphenom

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There’s a well studied phenomenon called Terror Management Theory which basically says that, when people are reminded of their own death, their beliefs change in certain predictable ways. People cling more strongly to beliefs that make the future seem more controllable and comfortable – and that includes turning to religion (see: Religion, Patriotism and Death). Bastiaan Rutjens (University of Amsterdam) has previously found that reminding people of death reinforces their belief in progress. What he wanted to find out was… Read more

Most supernatural beliefs are about avoiding harm, not bringing benefit

February 9, 2015 By Epiphenom

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A survey of supernatural beliefs across cultures around the world has found that beliefs involving hazards and harms were about 50% more common than beliefs about benefits, opportunities and other good things. Daniel Fessler, at the University of California, and colleagues searched a representative dataset of 60 cultures held at the Human Relations Area Files and identified a total of 219 supernatural beliefs (there were more than that in total, but they just took a few from each culture). They… Read more