The universality of religious belief—in supernatural agents: gods, ghosts, souls, spirits, and their ilk—is, no doubt, the product of a whole host of interacting causal factors . However, the notion that such beliefs are driven by fear of death recurs throughout intellectual history. Although recent
Religion. "Praise be to God." "Awakening the Buddha within." "Allāhu akbar." Just phrases at first sight.. But what comes to mind? Depending on your background or your personal situation, each of these might prime you with anxiety , or with comfort. Equally so, wars have been (and are) fought over
People are sense-making creatures in a world that does not always make sense. This is a problem – although we prefer our world and environment to be orderly and predictable, and an expanding body of research shows that we do not like randomness and a lack of control over life’s outcomes (Kay