David DeSteno

But for those who do...

there is that type of benefit of not having this sense that you have to be able to control everything.

And you're right, the data do show that people are leaving traditional faiths at an increasing rate.

I think a lot of that is it comes from a dissatisfaction with the institutions themselves.

Religious institutions are human-made organizations, and many of them have had moral failures.

Many of them have built within them discriminatory practices based on gender or sex or other types of things.

And then there is this notion, too, that, you know, oh, religion is this superstition.

that last part I don't believe.

There are many, many scientists who are persons of faith.

And yes, if you're going to be a true fundamentalist, like you're going to interpret everything in these texts as truth, which some people do, then it becomes to square with what we know to be true in the modern world.

But I know many scientists, you know, Francis Collins, who basically argues that we have, God gave us

the power of the human mind so that we can learn about and celebrate God's creation.

So I put that issue of kind of...

fundamentalism to the side.

But I think a lot of people are leaving institutions because they're not speaking to them in ways.

It's interesting.

I've never gone to Burning Man, but I have friends who do.

And one of them is a scientist.

And at Burning Man, sure, for some people, it is a debaucherous party.

But for other people, they're having these tremendous spiritual experiences there because it's this...