Are religious people really less smart, on average, than atheists?

[7437]

I don't know about actual intelligence, or academic acumen, but overall they're both blindfolded and claiming to be able to see in terms of their spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof.

Anyone who claims to know for a certainty what happens after you die, are equally as ignorant.

We do kinda know what "not being" is like though. It's like before you were born.

 

[ryan3434]

More smarter or more edumacated

Atheists are not necessarily smarter

 

[HereticBD]

We do kinda know what "not being" is like though. It's like before you were born.

But do you know if you never actually existed before you were born for a certain? I don't discredit the whole reincarnation theory. We could be one big recycling plant, for all we know. Live, die, live, die, in every form imaginable.

Shit, I don't discredit many theories at all, because they're all equally plausible, considering we know jack shit about it. We could all just be some highly advanced virtual reality game, and when we die, our true selves unplug from the system and go, "Damn, that shit is no joke. I lived a whole life and felt everything! Crazy shit. Who's the sick fuck who played as Jeffery Dahmer? That was fucked up, man. Whoever that was has issues. I gotta say though, you should up the natural life expectancy a bit. 80-ish years just seems kind of short, ya know? 80 years, and colon cancer gets me? Pretty lame."

 

[7437]

But do you know if you never actually existed before you were born for a certain? I don't discredit the whole reincarnation theory. We could be one big recycling plant, for all we know. Live, die, live, die, in every form imaginable.

Shit, I don't discredit many theories at all, because they're all equally plausible, considering we know jack shit about it. We could all just be some highly advanced virtual reality game, and when we die, our true selves unplug from the system and go, "Damn, that shit is no joke. I lived a whole life and felt everything! Crazy shit. Who's the sick fuck who played as Jeffery Dahmer? That was fucked up, man. Whoever that was has issues. I gotta say though, you should up the natural life expectancy a bit. 80-ish years just seems kind of short, ya know? 80 years, and colon cancer gets me? Pretty lame."

That's literally an episode of Rick and Morty.

I dont see any reason to give credence to theories that arent really based on anything. Russell's teapot type stuff

 

[all caps]

That's literally an episode of Rick and Morty.

I dont see any reason to give credence to theories that arent really based on anything. Russell's teapot type stuff

What's the big bang based on

 

[Gutter Chris]

What's the big bang based on

Scientific theory .... Whats a space wizard did it based off again ?

 

[HereticBD]

That's literally an episode of Rick and Morty.

I dont see any reason to give credence to theories that arent really based on anything. Russell's teapot type stuff

What is anything actually based on though? Is there any afterlife scenario more credible than the next?

 

[Based and White Pilled]

This is a common misunderstanding.

People ended up adopting the label of agnostic largely due to all the negative baggage that theists piled on the label of atheist.

Theism addresses belief.
Gnosticism addresses knowledge.

You can believe in a god without claiming to know a god exists - agnostic theist - or,

You can not believe in a god without claiming to know a god exists - agnostic atheist.

On the other end of the spectrum (and it is a wide spectrum) would be the theist who a god claims to know that a god exists, or an atheist who claims to know that god does not exist.

If you aren't convinced that a god exists, you are without theism which is what an atheist is.

I understand what Gnostic, theist, and the prefix 'a' mean. My statement very clearly stated that I was talking about commonly accepted usage of the words in reference to a spectrum of religiosity, not their strict definitions based on linguistic origins.

I understand that belief and knowing are not the same thing and you can be agnostic while believing or not believing. However, I think most people simplify the spectrum as follows: when asked is there a higher power a theist says 'yes', an agnostic says 'i don't know', and an atheist says 'no'.

 

[7437]

What's the big bang based on

Science and math?

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang

 

[Swing]

This is probably random, but I'd love to see what Atheists are like when they are on their death bed. Could you imagine not believing in anything after this earth, yet you are on your death bed? You could probably make it into a comedy.

Are you suggesting that all Christians are content on their death beds? That they don't have a fear of death and aren't sad when their loved ones pass? Really, if you're so certain of an afterlife, why aren't funerals basically parties?

We don't hold somber gatherings for people when they move far away. So if there's a heaven and we get to see everyone again, what's with all the tears?

Everybody feels some trepidation over dying because deep down nobody is certain of what's next.

 

[7437]

What is anything actually based on though? Is there any afterlife scenario more credible than the next?

Not existing at least does, that is literally the state of electrical brain function.

 

[pinger]

This is probably random, but I'd love to see what Atheists are like when they are on their death bed. Could you imagine not believing in anything after this earth, yet you are on your death bed? You could probably make it into a comedy.

Yeah I will cease to exist. Much better than spending eternity with religious nerds

 

[all caps]

Scientific theory .... Whats a space wizard did it based off again ?

Science and math?

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang

Takes just as much faith to die believing in that as it does a big sky wizard, imo. Dead nonetheless

 

[Deleted member 499399]

This is probably random, but I'd love to see what Atheists are like when they are on their death bed. Could you imagine not believing in anything after this earth, yet you are on your death bed? You could probably make it into a comedy.

Most will probably call for god, or some, it’s call being human... like when an airplane is falling, you think even the most atheist of atheist isn’t saying god if you get me out of this I will bla bla bla.. desperation thoughts nothing more

It doesn’t really work like that. Imagine you are on your death bed. Will you be praying to L Ron Hubbard just in case? Or will you think that idea is just ridiculous?

 

[7437]

Takes just as much faith to die believing in that as it does a big sky wizard, imo. Dead nonetheless

Not wanting to die has nothing to do with the reality of science. I dont want to die, but that will not change the observable nature of the universe.

Science is not about your feelings. Other than psychology I guess.

 

[HereticBD]

Not existing at least does, that is literally the state of electrical brain function.

Not necessarily. There is always the possibility that we have not discovered something our brains can't comprehend. We know the body dies, but we don't know where the consciousness goes, or even came from in the first place. We don't really know why we were granted this overall awareness of our conscious existence, nor do we really know where it goes, if anywhere.

 

[ShadBo]

I understand what Gnostic, theist, and the prefix 'a' mean. My statement very clearly stated that I was talking about commonly accepted usage of the words in reference to a spectrum of religiosity, not their strict definitions based on linguistic origins.

I understand that belief and knowing are not the same thing and you can be agnostic while believing or not believing. However, I think most people simplify the spectrum as follows: when asked is there a higher power a theist says 'yes', an agnostic says 'i don't know', and an atheist says 'no'.

Sure, my bad for being too willing to give a lesson on the usage of these terms.

Still, though, the reason people are more comfortable with the label agnostic than they are with the label atheist is due to theists poisoning that well. There's no need to incorrectly jam agnosticism in between theism and atheism.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

Sure, my bad for being too willing to give a lesson on the usage of these terms.

Still, though, the reason people are more comfortable with the label agnostic than they are with the label atheist is due to theists poisoning that well. There's no need to incorrectly jam agnosticism in between theism and atheism.

That was probably true once, but I don't think it is still that way, at least not entirely. Most of the agnostics I know are turned off by the pretentious nature of many atheists and by the fact that many atheists are just as obnoxiously absolute in their anti-religion rhetoric as theists are in their pro-religion rhetoric.

Some of the loud atheists have done a bang up job of making a meme of themselves similar to vegans. I don't think agnostics wanting to distance themselves from that image can be blamed on angry Bible thumpers.

But as you said, agnosticism can exist simultaneously with theism or atheism. There are plenty of agnostics who identify as believers or non-believers. I think it's reasonable for people who self-identify as agnostic rather than theist or atheist to be a separate category because they obviously aren't interested in being lumped in with the more embarrassing people in either group.

 

[ShadBo]

That was probably true once, but I don't think it is still that way, at least not entirely. Most of the agnostics I know are turned off by the pretentious nature of many atheists and by the fact that many atheists are just as obnoxiously absolute in their anti-religion rhetoric as theists are in their pro-religion rhetoric.

Some of the loud atheists have done a bang up job of making a meme of themselves similar to vegans. I don't think agnostics wanting to distance themselves from that image can be blamed on angry Bible thumpers.

But as you said, agnosticism can exist simultaneously with theism or atheism. There are plenty of agnostics who identify as believers or non-believers. I think it's reasonable for people who self-identify as agnostic rather than theist or atheist to be a separate category because they obviously aren't interested in being lumped in with the more embarrassing people in either group.

Your agnostics are atheists, man.

 

[7437]

Not necessarily. There is always the possibility that we have not discovered something our brains can't comprehend. We know the body dies, but we don't know where the consciousness goes, or even came from in the first place. We don't really know why we were granted this overall awareness of our conscious existence, nor do we really know where it goes, if anywhere.

Again, that's just a russell's teapot thing.

 

[BudKing8806]

Damn next level here I was told the Earth is over 4 billion years old.

And only 12 left...fucking shame