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

[franklinstower]

Language evolves to be more useful. If you want to be strict about the origin of the words, you're being a pedant. The word "atheist" has a connotation that obviously bother you. That's reasonable. However, fighting against the nuanced meanings atheist and agnostic have developed to differentiate between people who believe there is no God and people who are unsure is fighting a losing battle. There are many people who identify as agnostic intentionally because they don't want to be lumped in with people who believe confidently that there is no God.

You can use whatever words you want. People who believe there is no God can be warlocks and people who are unsure can be kilngons. I don't care. The point is that it's useful to make a distinction between those groups. Fighting against it is either just being a pedantic twat or making a desperate attempt to combat the image of the pretentious atheist who confidently asserts that there is nothing. Either way, it's silly.

Goodnight

This is basically 100% true and states clearly what almost everyone means when they use the words.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

This whole topic is extremely interesting to me but I just dont know enough about it to make any definitive statements about it.

I don't really understand how IQ is measured and am not certain this kind of measurement takes into account all of what intelligence actually encompasses.

I tend to think IQ tests only measure a certain range of intelligence but don't mean to discredit them on that account.

I am a firm experiencer (made up word) of God and the spiritual realm. I KNOW that God exists and that there are spirits too. For me these are matters of lifelong experience.

I would not be surprised if it were fully demonstrated that religious people were slightly less intelligent on average though--- but I would also not be bothered by that fact in any way.

It is a matter of curiosity to me though why belief in a higher power would lead to less intelligence, or vice versa (if it does). I would not be surprised to find that I score lower on an IQ test at this point in my life than I did when I took one around the age of 19 and IF it is possible to score lower years later I would not be surprised if spiritual practices were part of the reason why either.

I feel like I use my brain very differently having spent years doing a regular meditation practice. I like my experience of life MUCH better than before but I care about details and factoids so much less as to almost find them bothersome. I am attracted to deep meaning, emotional and spiritual growth and improved relationships instead.

Overall this thread makes me extremely curious about all of this but I don't have enough data to form any real understanding. I wish I did thought because it is very interesting.

IQ is a measure of cognitive ability, basically logic. It is normal for it to decline slightly over time.

There have been attempts to measure some of the improvements you mention as EQ.

I would be interested to see how EQ scales with religiosity.

 

[TheComebackKid]

This is a very low iq thread filled with very low iq conversations and debates. You should all be embarrassed.

 

[franklinstower]

This is a very low iq thread filled with very low iq conversations and debates. You should all be embarrassed.

Not fair to me IMO.

 

[Strategery]

I think it's pretty generally accepted that on a spectrum of religiosity atheists believe that there is no God and agnostics are unsure or undecided.

Would you say adults believe there is no Santa Claus, or would you say they do not believe there is a Santa Claus?

 

[Son of Jamin]

Sweden is among the most secular nations in the world, yet the good people of Sweden believe the following:

20% believe in telepathy
25% believe in life after the death
15% believe that aliens visit us
13% believe in astrology
37% believe in paranormal phenomenon
20% of women believe in ghosts

If you would ask Swedes, they would proudly boast that they are atheists but they have only changed their set of beliefs from Christianity to "new age". But above all, too many believe in socialism.

 

[Devout Pessimist]

So what are the average IQs of each group?

There's an awful lot more than "controlling for age and education level" that would give effect the results that these guys probably don't have the balls to factor in. Does it matter what religion, the race of the respondent, the country of origin, or did they just not feel like factoring any of that in to get to the result they set out to get to?

The average Catholic Cardinal has spent many years studying philosophy, logic, history, theology and Latin and many of them can fluently speak at least 3 or 4 languages. They are extremely intelligent men.

 

[7437]

The average Catholic Cardinal has spent many years studying philosophy, logic, history, theology and Latin and many of them can fluently speak at least 3 or 4 languages. They are extremely intelligent men.

Is the average catholic a cardinal?

 

[Ramon Antonio]

Atheists are also committing suicides at higher rates.

Men are also committing suicide at way higher rates than women. Does that mean women are smarter? What is your point exactly?

 

[MilesAbove]

Having a belief does nothing to negate intelligence. Baseball players make the same motion every time prior to a pitch or a swing, and it has zero to do with their intelligence. It has to do with comfort and controlling actions/emotions.

People who are religious find comfort in their belief.

The better question is: Are those who make religion their primary life activity (and proselytize) less intelligent, on average.

 

[Ramon Antonio]

The average Catholic Cardinal has spent many years studying philosophy, logic, history, theology and Latin and many of them can fluently speak at least 3 or 4 languages. They are extremely intelligent men.

Yeah and almost everyone in Africa is religious and the average IQ is 80. I think Africa as a whole offsets the tiny percentage of people who are Catholic Cardinals.

Catholic Cardinals must be smart too. Must not be easy to sweep all that child abuse under the rug.

 

[Ramon Antonio]

No, that's not correct. There are three options for any claim.
1. Convinced it is true
2. Undecided/uncertain
3. Convinced it is not true

You're lumping #2 and #3 together and it makes for an inadequate framework for meaningful discussion.

I don't agree. You don't have to be convinced, you just have to find it more likely that there is a God to be considered a theist.

 

[Cid]

Ask Euler, Leibniz, Newton, Lavoisier, Galilei, Boyle, Kepler, Ampere, Riemann, Faraday, Maxwell, Joule, Born, Heisenberg, etc.

Practically all of pure science was built by "religious people"

Without them there would be no electronics, no planes, no cars, no Internet, no advanced medicine. you'd feel naked

If you wiped out 99% of the population we wouldn't be as advanced as we are now...

Going to need some stats to back up your assertion there.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

Would you say adults believe there is no Santa Claus, or would you say they do not believe there is a Santa Claus?

Do you honestly not understand the difference between those statements?

I don't agree. You don't have to be convinced, you just have to find it more likely that there is a God to be considered a theist.

I don't think I ever used the word "convinced"? I think "believe" was the key word in that stupid, pedantic argument.

Would you say that considering something to be the most likely scenario counts as believing it to be true? Idk. I don't really care about the minutia of defining each type of person on a scale of religiosity. I was just trying to convince ol' boy that it makes sense to differentiate between atheists and agnostics.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Yes. This forum is a good example.

 

[Billy no mates]

The average Catholic Cardinal has spent many years studying philosophy, logic, history, theology and Latin and many of them can fluently speak at least 3 or 4 languages. They are extremely intelligent men.

Well yes the puppeteers are going to be brighter than the audience for their shows .

 

[Ramon Antonio]

Do you honestly not understand the difference between those statements?

I don't think I ever used the word "convinced"? I think "believe" was the key word in that stupid, pedantic argument.

Would you say that considering something to be the most likely scenario counts as believing it to be true? Idk. I don't really care about the minutia of defining each type of person on a scale of religiosity. I was just trying to convince ol' boy that it makes sense to differentiate between atheists and agnostics.

No, that's not correct. There are three options for any claim.
1. Convinced it is true
2. Undecided/uncertain
3. Convinced it is not true

You're lumping #2 and #3 together and it makes for an inadequate framework for meaningful discussion.

You literally used the word convinced.

Also, agnosticism isn't some middle ground position in between theism and atheism. Agnosticism is the position that nothing is known or can be known about the nature of God.

An agnostic can still be either atheist or theist. Most people will be agnostic atheists though, especially those who are scientifically minded, since it's the rational position to not believe in anything without any form of positive evidence.

 

[ElKarlo]

I've seen highly religious people die, and I've seen atheists die. It's been the same. They are concerned about their families, not so much themselves.

But atheists are like give my steam account to my brother.... Right?

 

[EyeOfNewt]

If you wiped out 99% of the population we wouldn't be as advanced as we are now...

Going to need some stats to back up your assertion there.

You need stats lol? Ever wondered why in the International System of Units you see measures of electricity like volts and amperes? Or measures of energy like joules?

It comes from their names. James Prescott Joules, André-Marie Ampère, Alessandro Volta, etc. The reason behind this is because they pioneered this shit. Maxwell, Newton, Kepler, etc. formulated the laws that permit today the study and design of anything that has to do with circuitry and mechanical work. They were geniuses unlike any other of your 99%. Even today, more than 300 years later it's not entirely clear how Newton derived his law of universal gravitation. We can only guess.

There is no modern medicine, nor telecommunications or even means of transportation as you know them without the discoveries of the men listed above and others. Even Einstein expressed religious views. What stats do you want here?

 

[loyalyolayal]

I'm religious now because of this thread. I'd rather be lumped in with less intelligent folks than to know irl some miserable cunts itt.