Why did so many people waste their lives for religion?

[dahrling]

Yeah

I remember them saying on the atheist experience also that when someone's brain gets messed with enough so that it accepts an irrational idea like religion, that it makes it more likely that person will also accept other irrational ideas and be less able to distinguish between real and imaginary things. It's like they've stepped over the boundary between reality and fantasy. This is particularly worrying when you consider children. I think they said this has been shown by proper studies.

I think this is completely true. I still think religion makes sense sometimes, then I remind myself I need to be truly analytical and logical. Then it passes. But it does worry me sometimes. Permanent brain damage? I hope not.

Which is why I hope that more and more children these days will learn to look at the world logically.  I'd like to think that the internet would contribute at least a little bit towards that hope.

I think in some places this is already a reality, whereas in others the opposite is happening. For example, here in Brazil. People are becoming more and more religious. It is very disheartening. And angering.