Did the world's major religions arise due to wealth? Ancient groups became more religious as the standard of living improved


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Between 800 and 200BC, a new type of revolutionary thinking appeared in Persia, India, China and the Occident.

In what is described as the 'Axial Age', civilisation started to become more spiritual, creating what some historians believe are the roots of today's major religions.

But instead of misfortune or poverty, researchers in Paris claim to have evidence to link the emergence of world religions with rising standards of living.

Instead of misfortune or poverty, researchers claim to have evidence that links the emergence of world religions with rising living standards. They found that affluence    caused a sharp transition toward moralising religions when individuals were provided with more food. Pictured is a stained glass window in Prague

Instead of misfortune or poverty, researchers claim to have evidence that links the emergence of world religions with rising living standards. They found that affluence caused a sharp transition toward moralising religions when individuals were provided with more food. Pictured is a stained glass window in Prague

Nicolas Baumard, of the Ecole Normale Superieure said: 'One implication is that world religions and secular spiritualities probably share more than we think.

'Beyond very different doctrines, they probably all tap into the same reward systems in the human brain.'

The finding goes against recent reports in the Gallup World Poll that aimed to find out where people find meaning, and how they found it.

It discovered that some of the world's poorest countries, such as Sierra Leone, Togo, Laos, and Senegal, ranked highest for meaning.

In the new study, published in the journal Current Biology, the researchers tested various theories to explain the history in a different way, by combining statistical modelling with psychological theories.

Between 800 and 200 BC, a new type of revolutionary thinking appeared in Persia, India, China and the Occident. In what is described as the 'Axial Age', civilisation started to become more spiritual. Study shows that as people felt more secure, they became more religious. Pictured is a relief at the ruins of Persepolis, Iran

They found that affluence - which they refer to as 'energy capture' - best explains what is known of the religious history, rather than political complexity, or population size.

Their energy capture model shows a sharp transition toward moralising religions when individuals were provided with significantly more food.

'Humans living in tribal societies or even archaic empires often experience famine and diseases, a nd they live in very rudimentary houses.

'By contrast, the high increase in population and urbanisation rate in the Axial Age suggests that, for certain people, things started to get much better.'

The researchers said that this transition is consistent with a shift from 'fast' life strategies - focused on the immediate problems of the day - to those focused on long-term investments.

They added that it will now be interesting to test whether other familiar characteristics of modern human society - such as high parental investment and long-term monogamy - might stem from the same historical change.

BEING RELIGOUS DOES NOT MAKE YOU BETTER BEHAVED, SAY SCIENTISTS

A recent study has found 'no significant difference' in the number or quality of moral and immoral deeds made by religious and non-religious participants.

The researchers found only one difference - religious people responded with more pride and gratitude for their moral deeds, and more guilt, embarrassment and disgust for immoral ones.

Researchers say the find means religious and non-religious people have more in common than generally thought when it comes to moral experiences in everyday life.

'To our knowledge, it's the first study that directly assesses how morality plays out in people's everyday lived experience,' says Linda Skitka, a University of Illinois at Chicago psychologist. who co-authored the study, which was published in the journal Science.

To learn how people experience morality and immorality in everyday life, the researchers surveyed more than 1,200 adults, aged 18 to 68, via smartphone.

For three days, the demographically diverse group of U.S. and Canadian citizens received five signals daily, prompting them to deliver short answers to a questionnaire about any moral or immoral act they had committed, received, witnessed or heard about within the last hour.

The study found that religious and nonreligious people differed in only one way: how moral and immoral deeds made them feel.



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