Religion, it appears, isn’t helping science.
That’s the findings of new research by Princeton economist Roland Benabou and his two co-workers, which found that countries with a higher number of religious believers create less scientific and technological innovation.
But religion has always played an important role in science. People have always looked to the stars for answers, which has led secularists and thinkers alike to contemplate what truly influences the world.
Some religions — like Islam and Christianity — directly reference other planets and the cosmos. Experts told Deseret News National back in 2013 that the Bible itself references the heavens and the Earth, showing that heaven is something otherworldly.
And back in the 17th century, many people felt as though the existence of other planets and beings was a sign of God’s power and dominion, although that idea has changed over time, said Matt Stanley, a professor at New York University, to DN National.
“There’s a sense that anything else than a universe beaming with life is an insult to glory of the God,” Stanley told the National. “It’s an ever-changing thing because new discoveries are and have shaped different cosmologies.”
This led scientists to take a larger look at the stars in an attempt to figure out life’s origins.