Did you know that the “Close Door” button on the elevator probably does not do anything? If it was built after 1990 in the USA, it does not work unless you are a firefighter and have inserted a key.
The “Push to Cross” buttons in NYC streets do nothing, all the lights are computer controlled.
So why are they still there? It’s the placebo affect. It makes us feel better if we can push the button while we wait for the elevator or the light to change.
So could religion be a placebo for life? If you believe in in a God, then of course it’s not a placebo, it’s the real thing. If there is no God, the placebo effect could explain why religion was developed, why all cultures have some kind of religion. It helps us get through this existence, living a better life, and helps us through death of loved ones with the promise we’ll see them on the other side.
What about those that do not believe all that religion teaches, but follows one anyway? There has been studies done that show that even when people know that a pill they are given is a placebo, and has no known medical effect, they still receive a benefit. Could that be what is happening with “cultural Mormons”, those that believe little or none of the church’s tenants, but continue to go because they see the good in it? Mormon’s have no corner on the “cultural member”. In Catholic countries like Chile where I was a missionary, most Catholics I ran into were “Cultural Catholics” or “Cafeteria Catholic” They rejected church teaching they did want to follow (e.g. divorce, birth control). But they still remained “Catholic”.
So does it help to push the “Mormon” or “Catholic” button, even when you believe there is nothing behind it? Or is it more complicated than that, with family, cultural, and a little of Pascal’s Wager thrown in into the mix?
Wheat & Tares 
Sheep; herd; safety in numbers. Wolf; herd; food.
Herd identifies a member to push to the edge to sacrifice to the wolf. Unfortunately the wolf is in the herd already and the one pushed out is probably safer.
Bishop Bill. This was an interesting podcast on the development/creation of religion and its role in human development.
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/16/628792048/creating-god
According to the science presented in the podcast, religion served as a way to organize and control ever increasing numbers of people. When group size is smaller it is easy to know and assess each member individually but not so when numbers increase.
I wouldn’t say that the sense of belonging and purpose people get from religion is a placebo. Membership in any group at all provides belonging and purpose. They seem to be necessary for every aspect of good health. From what I can tell, they’re only *amplified* by very cohesive groups that offer a common worldview (religious or irreligious), not invented from nothing.
Shared religious beliefs, though? That depends on which beliefs.
I’m comfortable calling beliefs about the afterlife, group exceptionalism, and founding stories placebos. They can’t possibly be real in the sense of deriving their efficacy from their literal truth. What they have in common across religions is that they’re so common across religions, but mutually exclusive. So either none of these beliefs are real in the efficacy-from-literal-truth sense, or just one religion’s is, or the universe is a very weird place.
Some say a religion’s beliefs are real (i.e. not placebos) if their efficacy is derived from their metaphorical or approximate truth. It’s a very Fowler-Stage-5 way of looking at things. I can’t say I disagree. I only wish their adherents would keep in mind how loose the approximations must be.
I think believing in treating each other kindly is real. Believing in supporting each other through thick and thin is real. These beliefs derive their efficacy from truths about the human condition. And even though religions often apply these beliefs much too narrowly, the fact is that they have them.
If a real medication works for you, but you overstate how well it works, believe it works because it’s full of microscopic gnomes, and think every alternative is anything from useless to poison, are you actually taking a placebo? What if the pills are sugared to make them chewable, and you believe the sweet taste is essential? Are you taking a placebo then? What if you believe it works doubly well when taken at times with odd-numbered minutes, so you always take it at 8:53 am?
Medical science has a good answer for this, which I think is useful in wrangling the metaphor of religion as placebo. Every time you take a pill, you’re taking a placebo. The question is always how much this accounts for the medication’s effects.
To me, what you are calling the “placebo effect” is just a non-religious way of describing the cycle of faith/knowledge. Faith is never static; it either grows or dies. When I “experiment upon the word”, with faith, I have reinforcing spiritual experiences that strengthen my faith, and make me more likely to rely upon it. When I fail to feed my soul with spiritual experiences like prayer & scriptures, my faith wanes, & the lack of positive experiences makes me doubt it as a force in my life. For me, remembering that this mortal life is a learning experience for my spirit is key. Mortal life is a highly individualized tutor for each & every one of us, designed to teach “me” what I need to learn.
Where I work the close elevator buttons cut 3 seconds off (I used to time it).
Most elevators disabled them for ADA reasons.
Ours were refurbished recently.
I need to see if the buttons still work.
Coincidentally, I read the abstract for this study today: “Physical and mental health differences between atheists, agnostics, and non-affiliated theists compared to religiously affiliated individuals”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X17308062
“Extensive literature in the social and medical sciences link religiosity to positive health outcomes. Conversely it is often assumed that secularity carries negative consequences for health; however, recent research outlining different types of secular individuals complicates this assumption… Results indicate better physical health outcomes for atheists compared to other secular individuals and members of some religious traditions. Atheists also reported significantly lower levels of psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion) compared to both other seculars and members of most religious traditions. In contrast, physical and mental health were significantly worse for nonaffiliated theists compared to other seculars and religious affiliates on most outcomes.”
That last sentence is interesting concerning “nonaffialiated theists”. Having a belief system (include atheism) and acting on it appears to provide positive health outcomes. The second to last sentence about the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms is also interesting.
I support the LDS Church in a VERY minimalistic way for one reason only; and that is to be supportive of my wife (and now grown) family. It allows us to have “peace” around the subject of organized religion – and is really a very small sacrifice for me. I’ve made it very clear to our local LDS Leadership that this is our position and that (basically) I’m to be left alone to do my thing. So….I suppose some could say that peace in my home is the direct result of consciously consuming the placebo of religion; but maybe only 1/2 of the pill.
Tested the elevator this morning.
Can replicate closes much faster with button.
Punch, hit reopen. Wait for auto close. Hit reopen. Punch close button. Timing still measureably different.
🙂
Brother Marsh, your elevator testing just proves you are in an old elevator!
I was in SLC at the office tower attached to City Creek. Was fun. Sure enough. Buttons switched the time it took for doors to close.
Several days of depositions on the 24th floor. Lots of experimentation.
I am now going to experiment more.
I’d assumed you were right for new elevators, now I’m wondering.
:).