Religion according to Economic Theory
So I was sitting at my desk studying for an economics exam, when I made kind of a strange connection to religion. There is an economic theory called the "search theory" which essentially states that at some point it is no longer beneficial for a person to become any more knowledgeable. Imagine a marginal costs and marginal benefits graph (it looks exactly like a supply and demand graph) at the point where they intersect is the optimum point for the amount of knowledge you should gain. Anywhere before that, and you should learn more because the benefits outweigh the costs, and anywhere after that the costs outweigh the benefits of learning anything else. Basically, it is rational to be imperfectly informed. That being said, when you apply that to politics, you see that the marginal cost for becoming politically savvy are very high, while the marginal benefits are basically zero (since one vote isn't going to change an election). So think of religion in place of politics. People who don't believe in God or any other religion see the marginal costs as being very high, while the marginal benefits as being practically zero (because if you don't believe or want to believe in a religion, then what good is it going to do you to be well-informed?) But if you are a religious person, or just believe in God, the marginal benefits for becoming more knowledgeable about your beliefs are suddenly inelastic, which means that no matter what the cost, it is worth it to learn more. I'm not really sure what that proves, but it's funny sometimes how something as non-religious as economic theory can apply to your system of beliefs. In any case, at least I will remember it on my exam!