Question

Will religion ever become obsolete?
Regards

Answer 1

Never. The reason is simple, and it is cultural evolution, control theory and meme theory. Religion is an immensely important memeplex for society which contributes societal survival. It cannot be substituted with anything else

Answer 2

Hey!!

Here is your answer -

Sure it will become obsolete.

What did people of the past think god was? And then look at us now:

We can create species and we can destroy them. That is what gods can do.

We can cure diseases and we bring them on us. That is what gods can.

We can fly and walk on the moon. That is what gods can do.

We are the gods of our past already, but in the future we will be the gods of our present.

Kybernetic Thomas Burns (robot) to his commander (human): “The religious and philosophical notions are the consequences of your biological structure, because humans have a set time limit and they therefore want to discern everything, want to comprehend everything, want to explain everything… in every generation. From this discrepancy arises metaphysics, the bridge, that connects the impossible with the possible…”( Stanislav Lem, Fables of the Cybernetic Age, 1968)

So what happens when our time limit ends? When we conquer the programmed cell death in our DNA or find a way to download the information in our brains? When not every generation of humanity loses its masterminds with all their knowledge and experience? What can we reach with immortality?

And yes, this time will come.

We are replacing biological evolution with technological evolution. And our technological progress has exponential growth. So many of us have problems to understand what exponential growth means because an exponential curve approximates a straight line when viewed for a brief duration. Ray Kurzweil has discussed this scientifically in his great essay Essay „The Law of Accelerating Returns“ in 2001:

Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to the Singularity—technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history… Ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.

We will find the bridge that connects the possible with the impossible and will make religion obsolete by that. Gods need no religion.

For that blasphemous heresy here I would have been burned at the stake some hundred years ago, that is sure for sure.