Derek Thompson

So when I came to Singapore, I've lived in Singapore for the past six years, there was a form on the immigration documents that they wanted to know your religious background.

And so there were all the usual top biggest religions.

And one of the categories, it didn't say atheist or agnostic, it said free thinker.

Free thinker.

And I want to know, what the heck is a free thinker?

It turns out that a free thinker can be from other faith traditions.

You can be a free thinking Christian or a free thinking Muslim or a free thinking Jew.

You can be a free thinking Buddhist.

You can be a free thinker, anything.

It's someone who doesn't hold

that their convictions are necessary, that their beliefs have that standard of fact or faith that you're simply practicing as a tool.

And I think that really expanded the opportunities that I've had to participate in ritual in a way that has greatly benefited me because I no longer am debating people on the existence of God anymore.

I don't need to debate that anymore.

I stopped caring whether I'm going to prove

any particular faith correct or whether there is something supernatural at all.

I've stopped caring.

Rather, the standard is, does this improve my life?

Yeah, you call it an anthropological journey.

I call it a setup to a joke, in fact.

If you think about it.