Culture and Religion
Religion relates to us in three distinct ways:
- As a source for defining an objective function
- As a source for building an ideological tree
- As a source of cultural predilections, traditions, and identity
It is possible to have 1 & 2 without 3 and vice versa. For example, a person may believe a religion while simultaneously believing that its culture and traditions corrupt that religion’s prescribed objective function. This can be seen in the disgust with which some fundamentalist sects regard traditions like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. A truly pragmatic religious devotee will take inventory of their objective function and test it against traditional practices associated with their religion, discarding those which impede their ability to maximize their objective function. For example, they may ask, “Does celebrating Easter with my kids bring them closer to God?” and find the answer is no.
Conversely, many stop believing in their religion as a source of purpose or as an explanation for how the world operates while still drawing from it as a source of traditions and cultural identity. A prominent example of this is the “secular Jew,” someone who maintains a Jewish identity and incorporates Jewish traditions into their lives while maintaining a functionally atheistic worldview.
We, Simone and Malcolm, fall in this category. While atheistic in both our objective functions and ideological trees, we are relatively strict Calvinists when it comes to culture. We even identify as “Secular Calvinists” over identities like “atheist.” You could argue the entire Pragmatist’s Guide to Life is so heavily influenced by a Secular Calvinist perspective that it is, at its core, just a prescription for how a Secular Calvinist should approach life.[[41]](#_ftn41)
If we believe that Calvinism does not present a compelling objective function or explanation of how the world works, why would we be attracted to its cultural mores?
Only recently did humans have sufficient information to rival theistic hypotheses when exploring the origins of life and the universe. In contrast, our cultural traditions are the product of hundreds of centuries of cultural evolution. Cultures contain insights that cannot easily be uncovered a priori. For example, almost every religion on earth has some sort of arbitrary self-denial ritual (Lent, Ramadan, the Sabbath, etc.). Many atheists viewed these traditions as pointless until about a decade ago. Now we know that inhibitory pathways in our brains need regular exercise to stay strong and if they are not regularly exercised through systematic and arbitrary self-denial, we may see virtues like mental control and grit erode while certain vices—such as anger and anxiety—snowball.
How much of what we inherit from our family comes from genes vs culture is up to debate. What is not debatable is that we do inherit traits from our family. A family’s religious culture can be fine-tuned over generations, helping members of each generation optimize as people. Our Calvinist tradition, for example, imparts an extreme distrust of excess: indulgences in positive or negative emotional states as well of financial luxuries. While we can’t be sure of the method of action, adopting this mindset significantly improves our overlay states and efficiency.
We have anecdotally noticed a correlation between rejecting cohesive cultural identities/traditions and experiencing more frequent, intense negative overlay states (though, it is possible that being unhappy causes a person to question culture more aggressively).
We are not opposed to forging new ways of living—society is better for people who innovate new cultures because they move things forward. That said, cultural trailblazers often sacrifice their own happiness to run what are essentially “cultural experiments.” The mad inventor would not be “mad” if he didn’t occasionally end up holding a now-empty test tube with soot on his face and his eyebrows singed off. Because they are forging a new path, those who move the furthest from their traditions (either voluntarily or because society cut them off) may struggle more to find contentment and emotional stability in their lives.