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The basic problem with the modern world is we no longer have a conception of the mind as capable of undergoing qualitative transformation. The cultic-religious form of organization depends on this. Charismatic authority comes from having been so transformed.
The Cartesian-Empiricist conception of mind and its modern pseudoscientific incarnation is fundamentally static. The mind is a set of faculties that process 'data'. The nature-nurture dispute doesn't touch this. Either way, the mind is incapable of genuine qualitative change.
The idea that people can undergo qualitative change has been a commonplace in all other cultures. From this idea you get charismatic authority, you get the idea of a path you too can follow, you get the distinction between mere familiarity and genuinely 'embodying' a worldview.
Without belief in qualitative change, you get a world of librarians. You get a world of 'experts' who are just like you except familiar with a 'body of knowledge'. You get tedious education that isn't about transformation, but gaining familiarity with a 'field of expertise'.
It's sometimes said that the world has become 'disenchanted', but it's really the mind that has become static. The Greeks understood that logic, mathematics, and science were transformative religious pursuits. They can become so again, if we ditch our static conception of mind.
Cultic-religious organization still exists in places (New Age cults, fundamentalist religions, etc) but it's not part of our modern, mainstream conception of ourselves. This needn't be the case. Science and technology can and should be pursued in the cultic-religious mode.
The misunderstanding of what the problem is here leads to embarrassing LARPing. The cultic-relgious mode of organization requires the idea of personal transformation. Not understand this leads people to think they can 'create a religion' by coming up with symbols and rituals.
