Wouldn’t there be some advantages in 12th century Europe to being a secret atheist (especially a rationalist, if that were somehow possible), and simply not speaking about it to anyone? It would eliminate the chance of going on crusades or the psycological fear of excommunication (even if excommunication would be a horrible situation anyway) if a noble, and a lot of superstitions if a commoner.
There are advantages to that, but there are disadvantages too. You’d have to constantly maintain a lie to everyone you knew, and there are psychological consequences to that. Additionally, it’s a lot easier to believe that there is no afterlife when cryonics is possible. If you’re in 12th century Europe, you will cease to exist after about 30 years, and that could be very painful to realize.
Wouldn’t there be some advantages in 12th century Europe to being a secret atheist (especially a rationalist, if that were somehow possible), and simply not speaking about it to anyone? It would eliminate the chance of going on crusades or the psycological fear of excommunication (even if excommunication would be a horrible situation anyway) if a noble, and a lot of superstitions if a commoner.
There are advantages to that, but there are disadvantages too. You’d have to constantly maintain a lie to everyone you knew, and there are psychological consequences to that. Additionally, it’s a lot easier to believe that there is no afterlife when cryonics is possible. If you’re in 12th century Europe, you will cease to exist after about 30 years, and that could be very painful to realize.