Human beings live on hope and are willing to pay tremendously for hope.  Two cases in point, IPO (or investments in startups) a favorite activity of many well educated, analytical and thoughtful professionals and ritualistic religion, a favorite activity of the masses.  Hope is essential ingredient in the popularity of both.

In an IPO (or startups) the price that investors are willing to pay is many times more than the current actual economic value of the asset.  They are paying for the “hope” that the company will grow dramatically.

Similarly, in most observed religions, we pray that our troubles will be taken away by the “savior” and we will be blessed with abiding happiness.  Religion does a fantastic job of providing hope.  It is based on a conception of a God which is just and compassionate.  Just so that wrong doing of others will not go unpunished.  And compassionate, so that if we ever end up in the wrong, we can have hope that there will be redemption.

While I have nothing against either IPOs or Religion.  It is worthwhile to note, in both cases a more abiding way to achieve the object of our hope exists.  In terms of investing, Warren Buffet has shown over a long successful career that investment in “non-glamorous” real businesses like candy making and furniture retail makes better economic sense then investing in “high hopes” internet startups.  But investing in these businesses does not provide us great hope compared with investing in an internet startup which will revolutionize an industry.

In religion, the belief in an external God who can alter the laws of nature takes us away from the truth.  We should follow the path of Right Knowledge, Right Intent, Right Thought and Right Action throughout our life.  That may seem like a lot of work compared to offering food to an idol of a deity.  And that is why ritualistic religion is so much more popular than Analytic Faith.