There were certainly other factors involved in the death of the New Atheism. For example, one seldom heard about Sam Harris’s Red State argument or the idea that religion causes war after I published THE IRRATIONAL ATHEIST and both The New York Times and Nature cited my calculations demonstrating that religion did not, historically, have very much to do with war at all, and scientists at Boston University found evidence to support my hypothesis that atheism is little more than a social aspect of autism.
But a single boastful meme of a smug, fedora-wearing Gamma was the kryptonite to the appeal of the so-called Four Horsemen of New Atheism. Because no amount of self-satisfaction at thinking you were a Smart Boy capable of seeing through the ruse of organized religion could compensate for taking that kind of self-imposed social suicide.
And that is the power of the SSH and the way in which perceived social status has an immense impact on both macro and micro society.
