Beyond beliefs and time—rethinking religions and secularisms in an increasingly complex world

In social sciences, it is widely recognised that human beings possess an inherent need for categorisation. This tendency arises due to the intrinsic complexity of the environment, which escapes our understanding. Despite the limitations imposed by a simplified view of reality, categorisation allows us to experience everyday life with the necessary fluidity. This article proposes a reconsideration of the traditional categories of the religious and the secular, presenting an inclusive and flexible approach that captures the richness of the intangible and unintelligible phenomena of today, narratives carried by people through their social memory, such that they have a correlate in the earthly world. Through an interdisciplinary analysis, it is argued that both the religious and the secular are constantly transformed and influenced by digitalisation, globalisation, and contemporary crises. An extreme scenario of analysis is to find ourselves, as humanity, on the verge of extinction, where these categories would not fade away but would be reconfigured into new expressions of spirituality and frameworks of meaning aimed at coping with uncertainty. Ultimately, shared stories are the ones that hold us to the world and life. With them, the illusion of the eternal persists to survive and fight against oblivion. After all, humanity is the interconnectedness we sustain with other generations and our ability to share and accumulate knowledge, so we are the memory of those left behind. It is through these narratives –rather than just religious or secular– that we construct meaning. This discussion invites social researchers to adopt approaches that better reflect the interconnectedness between seemingly opposing dimensions, highlighting the role of different elements –such as digital technologies– in shaping human experiences and contemporary social dynamics.