Comment by Mark_Chussil on A Failed Just-So Story · 2008-01-07T23:31:36.000Z · LW · GW

I'm curious... you all have thought about this more than I have, so I'm looking forward to learning... Maybe there isn't a natural-selection benefit to religion. What about the benefit that an INDIVIDUAL gets from espousing religion? Those who do so effectively can be given great power. Or what about religion having the ability to impose order on illiterate and/or unthinking groups? Believing that your sins will be remembered by an omniscient being and that you will sizzle for a very, very long time is an effective way to implement social control. Combine the two -- eternal damnation with "I decide what's damned" -- and you get something very, very powerful.

Thanks, all.