Atheism and IQ

[Twentythree]

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402381
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-26/health/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence_1_sexual-behaviors-liberalism-exclusivity?_s=PM:HEALTH



I was hoping to get the temperature of the forum on this. Does intelligence = atheism. Or does a higher intellect at least create higher potential for atheism. I've heard that extremism follows the poor and uneducated, this is both religious and nationalist extremism/fundamentalism. I also heard in a lecture that religious officials and those most educated of theologians had the least literal interpretations of their faith. The above are a few articles that I found that mention the potential link of higher I.Q. to atheism.

Since I have joined this forum I have heard and seen postings of deep philosophical, logical and scientific merit. To me it seems like the atheist world view requires the ability to rationalize the environment and to understand complex scientific principles like deep time, evolution and the biochemistry of the human mind. There are occasionally the atheists that post here that have simply been driven from their faith by prejudice, but I think a greater volume of those of us that post here have a fundamental working knowledge of the history of the universe. So in short, is religion, particularly religious literalism and fundamentalism, a relic of a more primitive past, will intellectual evolution eventually leave religion behind. Also do you think that atheists are just plain smarter in general than those of deep religiosity.

Also any other articles or links to studies would be appreciated.

[Twentythree]

stumbled upon this while looking for related articles.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

only missed 5 questions...if you take it post your scores.

[Too Few Lions]

I couldn't agree more with your OP 23. I think atheists are generally more intelligent and better educated than theists, although there's obviously going to be some intelligent and well educated theists out there (somewhere... ). Here's an interesting article from Science Daily on the same subject;

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224132655.htm

[Tank]

I'll have to dig out the article but I seem to recall that an IQ of 125 is the turning point between theistic and atheistic world views. The majority view below 125 being theistic and above atheistic. This does not preclude the existance of highly intelligent theists or brick stupid atheist.

Higher Education is also another indicator with those that do go into HE being more likely to be atheists. The interesting thing about this is if you consider the education level of the members of the US cenate 87 should be atheists and 13 theists. Las time I read about this only 1 or 2 actually were atheists. This means there are a lot of atheist liers or athiests just don't bother to stand for office in the US.

[AnimatedDirt]

I suppose one might have to define "intelligence".  If any of you watch The Big Bang Theory, the Sheldon character is supposed to be of higher intelligence (or so he thinks anyway) than his other "nerd" friends, yet many times Sheldon has to have common sense explained to him  i.e. sarcasm, "social protocol"...  Of course that's TV.  I'm not suggesting that is true life, however it wouldn't be funny if it wasn't more true than fiction.

In the same way, (just thinking) one may be of higher intelligence, but put one of these on the mean streets of L.A. (or another)...and there's very high probability that "evolution" will exterminate him/her.  Put a street kid in an educated environment...and he may learn and become intelligent.

[Stevil]

I couldn't agree more with your OP 23. I think atheists are generally more intelligent and better educated than theists

Atheists are also better looking 

[Stevil]

If theism is as a result of ignorance, then it would stand to reason that with education you get progressively lower levels of theism.

[Stevil]

I've heard that extremism follows the poor and uneducated, this is both religious and nationalist extremism/fundamentalism.

I would guess that extremism follows oppression and desperation. The poor and uneducated are more likely to be oppressed and desperate.

[AnimatedDirt]

stumbled upon this while looking for related articles.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

only missed 5 questions...if you take it post your scores.

I missed 3 questions.

What is the Dalai Lama?  I put Hindu
Most people in India are?  I put Muslim (I was thinking it was a trick question and didn't go for the obvious)
Most people in Indonesia are?  I picked Muslim again...again for the above, but I wasn't sure either way.

[Too Few Lions]

I'll have to dig out the article but I seem to recall that an IQ of 125 is the turning point between theistic and atheistic world views. The majority view below 125 being theistic and above atheistic. This does not preclude the existance of highly intelligent theists or brick stupid atheist.

Higher Education is also another indicator with those that do go into HE being more likely to be atheists. The interesting thing about this is if you consider the education level of the members of the US cenate 87 should be atheists and 13 theists. Las time I read about this only 1 or 2 actually were atheists. This means there are a lot of atheist liers or athiests just don't bother to stand for office in the US.

I imagine it's also partly down to one of the problems with democracy, maybe openly atheistic candidates are seen by both parties as being fairly unelectable, so never get that far. If the majority of the electorate are Christian, and a lot of those not so bright or educated, you're best off fielding candidates that appeal to them.

Looking online, an IQ of 125 or above represents only around 5% of the population, which is a rather depressing thought 

http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq04.htm

[Whitney]

This means there are a lot of atheist liers or athiests just don't bother to stand for office in the US.

There are a lot of them who run for office without pushing religion and let people assume they are religious.  All but maybe one of them is in the closet.  I don't know who they are I just know that the Secular Coalition has a private list of contacts.  The last I heard they had a list of 30ish senators and congressmen/women and that was probably 3 years ago so it may be more (or less) now.

[Whitney]

As for atheism and IQ...I think we all know it's not a direct causation even though there is a correlation.

If you are mentally able to understand how a world works without having to rely on religious ideas, are mentally sound enough to support yourself rather than needing religion for support, and also have a brain that is inclined towards favoring logic and tangible things over faith and stories then you have a good recipe for an atheist.  I think even creativity may play a factor as you do need to be able to think outside of the theistic box that most of us are raised in.

I'll note that I have met very few, if any, intelligent theists who push the fundamentalist view point...they tend to be liberal and willing to play nice with others.

So, perhaps intelligence in general does cause people to reject traditional religious ideas in favor of something that is more palatable for a civilized society.

[AnimatedDirt]

So, perhaps intelligence in general does cause people to reject traditional religious ideas in favor of something that is more palatable for a civilized society.

Sounds a lot like what the fictional character of Christ thought of the "tradition of men".

[Twentythree]

So, perhaps intelligence in general does cause people to reject traditional religious ideas in favor of something that is more palatable for a civilized society.

Sounds a lot like what the fictional character of Christ thought of the "tradition of men".

Can you explain?

[AnimatedDirt]

So, perhaps intelligence in general does cause people to reject traditional religious ideas in favor of something that is more palatable for a civilized society.

Sounds a lot like what the fictional character of Christ thought of the "tradition of men".

Can you explain?

In a nutshell...men had put lots and lots of rules in keeping of the Sabbath.  Specifically on this, the "men" were complaining that Jesus' disciples were eating with "unclean" hands...the fictional character of Christ in the piece of fiction known as the bible, said, "You hypocrites...you have let go the commands of God and are instead upholding traditions of men"  In other words, it was not God's law they were enforcing, but that of their own making.