Science of the mind

Religion, perhaps, is the most important invention of the human mind.

- BY DR UPUL WIJAYAWARDHANA

An artistic representation of the Buddha delivering the Kalama Sutta

It is said that there are more religions in the world than spoken languages! According to Ethnologue, a website considered to be an authoritative catalogue of languages, there are around 7,170 living languages, grouped into about 142 language families, the IndoEuropean family having the most speakers. English is the most widely spoken language and around 40% of languages are considered endangered as there are less than 1,000 speakers each. Depending on the way ‘religion’ is defined, the number of religions in the world range anywhere from 4000 to 10,000, though the top four make up for 76%: Christianity 30%, Islam 25%, Hinduism 15% and Buddhism 6%.

However, religion is far from being the greatest invention of the human mind. Though many religions advocate all that is good including tolerance, compassion and kindness, in practice religion has become very divisive, led to many wars and spread discord. On the other hand, though language can be used to spread hatred, an ever-increasing phenomenon associated with the advent of social media, overall, human culture and civilization has been built on the foundation of language. It is hard to imagine human civilization without language though one can well imagine a civilization thriving without religion. Has religion which was meant to be the ‘Rose’ of civilization become a ‘Thorn’?