b555 Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197
b555 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 A study using census data from nine countries shows that religion there is set for extinction, say researchers. The data reflect a steady rise in those claiming no religious affiliation. The team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one. The result, reported at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, US, indicates that religion will all but die out altogether in those countries. Nonlinear dynamics is invoked to explain a wide range of physical phenomena in which a number of factors play a part. One of the team, Daniel Abrams of Northwestern University, put forth a similar model in 2003 to put a numerical basis behind the decline of lesser-spoken world languages. At its heart is the competition between speakers of different languages, and the "utility" of speaking one instead of another. "The idea is pretty simple," said Richard Wiener of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. "It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility," he told BBC News. "For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not." The team took census data stretching back as far as a century from countries in which the census queried religious affiliation: Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. A man fills in a census form Some of the census data the team used date from the 19th century "In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion; in the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%," Dr Wiener said. The team then applied their nonlinear dynamics model, adjusting parameters for the relative social and utilitarian merits of membership of the "non-religious" category. They found, in a study published online, that those parameters were similar across all the countries studied, suggesting that similar behaviour drives the mathematics in all of them. And in all the countries, the indications were that religion was headed toward extinction. "I think it's a suggestive result," Dr Wiener said. "It's interesting that a fairly simple model captures the data, and if those simple ideas are correct, it suggests where this might be going. "Obviously much more complicated things are going on with any one individual, but maybe a lot of that averages out."
IKnowU Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 :aha: We can finally get some phasst bowlers that eat meat. :aha:
Chaos Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 :aha: We can finally get some phasst bowlers that eat meat. :aha: :WTF::WTF::WTF::WTF::WTF:
Ram Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 No way. Contrary to popular perception that religion is on the decline and un-belief is on the rise, the truth is quite the opposite. Religion claims to have solutions for the most basic of human vulnerabilities. Most religions, at least the monotheistic ones, claim that there is a heavenly father who not only knows everything you do and think, but also tells us that he will positively intervene to alleviate our sufferings. It is this kind of deception that fits perfectly with our inner insecurities – our need to be looked after, our need for solidarity and companionship etc. Given that a significant proportion of the population are ignorant, weak and mentally fragile, if you suddenly tell them that there’s no such thing as God and you’re pretty much by yourself, it will destroy their core value system that has helped them survive through centuries and will cause a massive panic attack. For reasons yet to be completely fathomed, our brains seemed to be wired in such a way that we seem to be conditioned to believe in God/Heavenly power. As long there has been a documentary record of human civilization, there has also existed proof of Gods/religion, except that the Gods and the names have undergone a constant process of change. But beyond anything else, religion strikes at the heart of our most significant failing – Greed. Most people go to the temples, churches and mosques not because they particularly love their Gods to bits, but because they want to pray and ask for favors. If lets say Jesus himself suddenly appeared in skies above us and announced, to the full view of the world, that he loves his creations but will no longer be doing his followers any favors of heeding their prayers, then I can almost guarantee that Christianity’s following will fall overnight by 95% and people will jump ship, in the bat of an eyelid, to the next religion that claims to address their issues. Of course, such a thing isn’t going happen, EVER. Proportionately, even though the number of people who affiliate themselves to one religion or the other maybe on the decline, the number of people who fervently believe in their faith and consequently, are prepared to do anything on behalf of it, is actually on the rise. Religion, per se, may be waning, but religious fundamentalism, is waxing. And the bad news is, this is just the beginning of the terrible times. When messianic ideologies that seek to bring back the God unto the earth by facilitating the apocolyspe (which is pretty much what the Holy texts say and deadly technology manage to meet each other down the road, that is when the true nature of devastation that religious fundamentalism can cause, will become evident.
Late Cut Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Nonsense. Religion won't become extinct until Aliens take over the world!!!!
satishg Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 What my friend Sriram is trying to say is religion will never become extinct thanks to the inherent weakness in human beings :)
punjabi_khota Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 For the first time ever, I was asked my religion on the phone during a registration process today. I said 'athiest' and heard a chuckle on the other side. It was a weird experience for some reason. :D
The Outsider Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Maurice, did you read the article - it's about declining trends of religion in 9 specific countries?:winky:
Mariyam Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 After changing his user name from Morris to Ram, it doesn't take a genius to predict that he'd argue for religion.
youngindia Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 i think i was the first to call it the opium of the masses.
Ram Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Maurice' date=' did you read the article - it's about declining trends of religion in 9 specific countries?:winky:[/quote'] They couldn’t have chosen a worser sample to profile the apparent decline of religion (Canada, Europe etc..). What next, a census in South America over the popularity of football? :dontknow:
punjabi_khota Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 i think i was the first to call it the opium of the masses. Marx, is that you :woot:
Guest Shivani Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 I have to submit an essay of 15000 words day after tomorrow. Ram, please help :(( and no religion ? what will happen to my fav topic "secularism" :((
The Outsider Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 They couldn’t have chosen a worser sample to profile the apparent decline of religion (Canada' date=' Europe etc..). What next, a census in South America over the popularity of football? :dontknow:[/quote'] Those are the countries which seem to have a large sample size for religious affiliations (according to the article). Speaking from personal experience, religion definitely plays a much smaller role amongst the educated class of my generation than my father's in India.
Mariyam Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Speaking from personal experience, religion definitely plays a much smaller role amongst the educated class of my generation than my father's in India. My observation would be quite the opposite. While religion in itself might not play as big a role as it used to, but affiliation to a religion plays a bigger role in aspects like house hunting, voting, stream of education, and some times even choices made on consumer products than it did 30 years ago. In short, people may not follow their religion to the word as their parents did, but their identity with their religion is stronger. PS: You didn't read my post in the city thread :(( :whack:
punjabi_khota Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 My observation would be quite the opposite. While religion in itself might not play as big a role as it used to, but affiliation to a religion plays a bigger role in aspects like house hunting, voting, stream of education, and some times even choices made on consumer products than it did 30 years ago. In short, people may not follow their religion to the word as their parents did, but their identity with their religion is stronger. PS: You didn't read my post in the city thread :(( :whack: I know its probably not a good idea (God save the servers) but could you explain :hmmm: Its probably an Islam thing, since Islam has been in news like never before for variety of (wrong) reasons. Probably makes people who belong to it more defensive, clingy, overt etc
Ram Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 I have to submit an essay of 15000 words day after tomorrow. Ram, please help :(( and no religion ? what will happen to my fav topic "secularism" :(( 15,000? Are you writing an essay or a book? :giggle:
Late Cut Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 My observation would be quite the opposite. While religion in itself might not play as big a role as it used to, but affiliation to a religion plays a bigger role in aspects like house hunting, voting, stream of education, and some times even choices made on consumer products than it did 30 years ago. In short, people may not follow their religion to the word as their parents did, but their identity with their religion is stronger. PS: You didn't read my post in the city thread :(( :whack: So one would buy certain products if they were muslim rather than hindu, like Rooh Afza?:winky:
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