There was a report on the BBC today on a study by the Paris School of Economics that people who have a religious belief lead a more contented life. I think I'll wait to read the full details of their survey before I can really understand what they are getting at. A lot of these surveys don't factor out other effects and correlations. The implication is that suddenly switching to a religious outlook on life would make you happier, although Pascal's Wager never did look like a good bet to me! It could be that the sort of people who are naturally attracted to religion are less likely to think too much about their philosophy on life, morality, fairness, justice, etc. and are happier because they don't have to worry about these things.
On a superficial level, it's quite obvious that, if someone really believes that there is a supernatual force looking out for them, then they will be more contented. (As long as they try to ignore studies that prove them wrong). On the other hand, if I really believed that Spiderman and Captain America were out there battling Evil, I'd probably sleep easier too...
As George Bernard Shaw said "The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one"
I assume therefore that you are not contented. :-)
ReplyDeleteActually I'm very contented. I guess if you are generally happy with life, then your philosophy or religion doesn't really matter. The questions in this survey seem to be more related to people feeling content when there is no real reason to be.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in the original post, I'd like to see the full details of the study. If religious people are happy, because of their beliefs, despite all the bad things that are going on in the world, then that almost seems like turning a blind eye to all the bad stuff, assuming that everything will turn out ok in the end.
Maybe it would be nice to have that sort of belief. It's a bit like a child's view of the world, where there's always someone to look after you and no bad things really happen.
I think some people would rather be content than face reality if that reality isn't very pleasant.