I think it mostly comes down to luck. Had you or I been born into a fundamentalist Muslim or Christian environment, for example,then we would have been trained up to be addicted to religion. That would have been the common wisdom we were surrounded by and immersed in. So perhaps we “unbelievers” should have more sympathy for the religious in our midst, as opposed to a sense of smug superiority, because the vast majority of them did not consciously choose the religion they identify with. That choice was denied them, probably starting at a very young age. So there, but for the grace of good fortune, go you or I.

@NostraDumbass - Any number of us here were born into fundamentalist religions and endured the indoctrination you mention. Some of today's prominent nonbelievers were such as Bart Ehrman and Dan Barker.

@RussRAB Religion, like any other addiction, can be overcome. But, statistically speaking, most people born and raised in a particular religion will remain in the fold, primarily due to peer pressure and coercion I would suggest.

Ok, then it is a Fraud God; either way, you say it, it's still the same claptrap. We could even be a software program, but I know with all my heart that nobody in the sky gives a fudge about us on earth. We're on our own. And even if there were a supreme being up there, it's a slum landlord. The misery I see in the children's faces from hunger and disease while many have billions makes me sick with their giant 100 million dollar homes. For sure, the world will never be the same again, and billions may die like the dinosaurs. There is too much greed and stupid in the world to work together as that is what it will take. And that is not going to happen until it's too late for humanity. I see the future clear as crystal, and far fewer people will be here. I'm sure society will survive but not the business model we have today. Out with the old and in with the new. I see a utopia vastly different from this mess, and we created it. The sad part is we can feed, house, clean water for all humanity and make this world a utopia for all. Instead, we like building rockets and machines to kill each other. None of it protected us from a bit of a little bug, and we still have not learned. WWIII is going to happen very soon because of stupid leaders.
No made-up guy in the sky will do fudge for us. Just like the starving children I see dying daily. If we can't work together, then we'll die together. Frankly, we brought it on ourselves. And in a word: Greed. The older I have gotten, the more I know it's a crock of sugar. Most of us can be good to each other, and there are many beautiful people in the world, but a few rotten apples will screw us. Religion is the most destructive force ever concocted by men and maybe our downfall. I'm sure the Cosmos is littered with planets like ours that look like Mars now because they prayed to a stone God. I'm sure you're a nice person, but just because you believe in something does not make it true.

@Tourirst I don't believe in anything.
Like I said elsewhere, the Club of Rome ran some computer models in 1972 and published a book called The Limits of Growth, which you might have heard of. It's worst-case scenario if we did nothing would a catastrophic crash some time around 2040. They recently took a look at the situation 50 years later and concluded, nope, haven't done much of anything. So supposedly industrial output and food production will stall as non-renewables become scarce, prices will skyrocket, the climate will worsen and world population will drop off a cliff.
So it sounds like we won't need a third world war, though if all this comes true we might have one anyway as this nightmare unfolds.
We'll see.
My only consolation is I'll probably be gone by then!

Zen often hands them events of personal or social magnitude that knocks 'em off the track. It will with these Evan's and such, too, in time. Do humans have enough time for this? I think not but that's more of an unfortunate matter than an historically odd one.

I like that, covidiots. Good one.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr but Sam was second.

@rainmanjr I disagree. Ernest Hemingway or John Steinbeck 20th century. I like Mark Twain for 19th century. I enjoyed reading Kurt Vonnegut, great writer tho.