Might be a bit shocking but it wasn’t knowledge that deconverted me.
Reading Sapiens changed my mind about this a lot because it always confused me too. It’s more about myths (of which we have a lot like the companies we work for and our countries) that allow us to cooperate, trust each other and work on larger more abstract ideas.
As for why it’s still around today – maybe it’s not as late as you think it is – We just made steam engines 10-15 generations ago
https://evolutionnews.org/2021/07/did-religion-evolve-or-was-it-designed-to-foster-cooperation/
Besides the fear of death that many mentioned already, its also a need to find an answer to how the world works and the need to find purpose in life.
Without these we suffer: Without understanding our environment, we feel our circumstances are out of our control and become anxious. Without purpose we become depressed (there is an excellent book called “from death camp to existentialism” about this subject).
Our brains are asking us for an urgent answer and the best quick answer most people can come with is religion. This is why it exists in every culture in history.
Fear of death.
That’s it.
The fact that there is nothing after you die is terrifying.
I’m a suicidal atheist (the two aren’t connected) and sometimes I think the only thing keeping me alive is the fear of non existence.
We are also the most connected we have ever been, yet more and more are giving it up for 2d anime girls
