Secularism is a loose complex of memes competing for space in people’s heads. Its value lies in its truth and flexibility; it changes with scientific progress, and it encourages inquiry and reasoned argument.
Unfortunately, these are not always the qualities that make for winning memes. There is tough competition to occupy the niche of a belief system that gives meaning and moral guidance and answers questions about human nature and purpose. Almost everyone on the planet is infected with a religion at a very early age, before they even encounter secularism. These religions are well-structured memeplexes, honed by centuries of memetic evolution to fit neatly with human cognitive weaknesses and protect themselves with plenty of dirty tricks.
The basic structure of religions is simple: they consist of instructions to pass on the whole memeplex, wrapped in a protective coat of lures, threats, and promises. It does not matter that the central ideas are false—such as a creator God who has a benign plan for human beings, the existence of souls, reincarnation, life after death, or miracles—because these are all linked with beautiful music and buildings, altruistic deeds, and uplifting feelings. If these aren’t enough, the fearsome threats and untestable promises keep the memeplex in place.
Secularism can never use such tricks while remaining rooted in science, truth, and open inquiry. So will it survive? Perhaps memetic research could find out whether there is a threshold percentage of believers in a population below which religions cannot come back or an environment in which their tricks will fail. My guess is that in Europe we are now fairly immune to the return of serious religious belief. But looking from the outside at the United States, I can only wonder.
Author of Consciousness: An Introduction, The Meme Machine, and Dying to Live, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal Fellow Susan Blackmore is a freelance writer and lecturer living in Bristol, United Kingdom. She has a degree in psychology and physiology from Oxford and a Ph.D. in parapsychology.
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