Finn Mosher, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Washington, $3,500
By Finn Mosher
From the beginning of our history, humanity’s greatest asset has been curiosity. It turned a species of forest-dwelling apes into a world-spanning civilization, took us from the depths of the ocean to the reaches of space. But, for almost as long as we’ve had curiosity, it’s been restrained by another invention of humanity: religion. Whenever we’ve run into a phenomenon exceeding our capacity for comprehension, we’ve explained it with religion and spirituality. This is what makes religion a burden to a modern, progressive society like the United States, and why youth leaving organized religion en masse marks an upturn in humanity’s fortunes.
