In many countries around the world, a fifth or more of all adults have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this “religious switching”, while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation, according to the latest Pew Research Centre surveys of nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries.

The point is: Why is this happening? Why are more and more educated and thinking people leaving religion (and also all gods)? While religiosity is increasing in third-world countries, advanced countries are fast doing away with all faiths. Yuval Noah Harari is of the view that evolution and devolution of the human mind are happening simultaneously. Now faith and no-faith are juxtaposed, living cheek by jowl. Somewhere, thinking people have begun to realise that religion ends and philosophy begins, just as alchemy ends and chemistry begins, and astrology ends and astronomy begins.

So very apt! It succinctly captures the evolution of human knowledge and understanding throughout history. It draws a parallel between various fields of study, highlighting the natural progression from ancient beliefs to more rational and evidence-based disciplines. Just as alchemy paved the way for the emergence of chemistry and astrology led to the development of astronomy, religion provides the foundation for philosophical enquiries into the nature of existence, morality, and human purpose. It suggests that with the advancement of humanity's intellectual and scientific capabilities, a transition from religious explanations to philosophical reasoning is........

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