Thought of the Day
Can Atheists Be Happy? Being religious confers big benefits. Time and again, studies have shown that people who have a religious faith are more likely to be healthy and happy than those who lack one. Religious people may even live longer. Go to church and you could outlive your atheist friends by a good seven years, as we report in this issue (see “Healthy Skepticism,” by Sandra Upson). Yet doctors don’t counsel patients to take up Christianity, say, as a way of beating back mental or physical distress. Even if such advice were socially acceptable, it wouldn’t work. Most people can’t just go out and find religion if the idea hadn’t resonated with them before. But finding out the secret ingredients behind religion’s powerful effects might reveal something that could be prescribed.
One clue: religion makes the biggest difference for well-being in places where life is hard, suggesting the belief system, or the camaraderie that accompanies it, provides support when times are tough. But if you are affluent, and things are going well, you may be perfectly happy without this psychological safety net, studies show. Being religious also seems to be most beneficial if you live among mostly religious people, indicating it is way of fitting in socially. In countries where few people believe, the psychological benefits of faith disappear.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/2012/04/12/can-atheists-be-happy-and-other-answers-from-scientific-american-mind/PS Just arrived from Washington Washington , George town , New Museum , rooftop of the W Hotel and the Potomac park are very nice the conference that I attended was very well organized. Not a good idea to go early to the airport. Dulles airport is not good.
PS2 Today is my 45th birthday. I feel in shape 2 weeks before Transportugal Mountain Bike race.
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Parabéns
ReplyDeleteJust a thought:
Maybe this is a Spurious Result
People are healthier because they are religious or healthy people are more prone to be religious?
(For example, maybe people lost faith because they got severely diseased and that will skew the stats)
For a proper test you had to chose participants at random from a group of homogeny people, administer to half of them religion, then wait some 20 years to measure the results. Don’t believe that’s possible yet.
Agree this is an expost study. Like people get bigger when they play basketball....... Despite your smart observation i think it's possible (no study) that the argument it's relly true. You are happier whem you belong to something.....
ReplyDeleteAgree, it's easier to face problems when you have something (a belief for example) to hold on.
ReplyDelete