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Christians and Mathematics?

Started by Sophus, November 25, 2009, 02:51:00 AM

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Sophus

November 25, 2009, 02:51:00 AM
This is a weird post but I can't help from thinking it.... many of the smarter Christians I know are very good with mathematics. Even though they lack a creative/critical thinking side they're good with number, as well as information. My atheist friends are just the reverse, including myself. I'm not horrible with math, as I do some computer programming, but I'm not fantastic because I'm not inspired by it. Looking back there's also the Christian philosophers Pascal, who was a prodigy from youth, Leibniz who made significant contributions to calculus, and Rene Descartes of course.
 Has anyone else noticed a trend like this? Or am I just weird?
‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver

Whitney

#1
November 25, 2009, 04:00:09 AM
You have to be good at math to be in most of the sciences and there are a lot of atheist scientists.  With my atheist friends a good portion of them seem to be pretty good at math and you can ask most of them "what do you code" and they'll just start telling you about their coding work/projects (a running joke...you don't ask if they code, you ask what...even if you just met them).  Personally, I'm just competent and even then only if I have a calculator.

All I know about tendency towards being good at math is that some study has shown that if both parents are math minded the chances of having an autistic child goes up significantly.

LoneMateria

#2
November 25, 2009, 05:07:59 AM
Sophus it's not all that weird.  As children a lot of indoctrinated Christians are taught to compartmentalize their day to day life ... and a God.  They are taught to put God on a pedestal which is not to be touched and then to accept the real world as it is.  Some are just good at match and have good critical thinking and logic skills except when it comes to their beliefs.  They compartmentalize their belief in a way where its still valid but so is everything else.  You find moderate Christians are experts of this.
Quote from: "Richard Lederer"There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages
Quote from: "Demosthenes"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.
Quote from: "Oscar Wilde"Truth, in matters of religion, is simpl

OldGit

#3
November 25, 2009, 10:20:08 AM
Quote from: "LoneMateria"... a lot of indoctrinated Christians are taught to compartmentalize their day to day life ...
You're so right.  To me, the single most obvious characteristic of Christians is their ability to keep their religion in a separate, watertight compartment away from their real lives and normal perceptions.
I suspect this is what's going on in a priest who can roger a choirboy just before Mass.  Also, (I'm not sure if this is the same thing) they are incredibly good at self-deception.
As for Maths ability, I can't say I've ever noticed any correlation.  Mind you, one of the brightest physicists in my year at Oxford went and joined the born-again gang.

Renegnicat

#4
November 25, 2009, 05:08:12 PM
You'd probably have to do a double blind study on it to find out for sure. Maybe you could ask some organization for funding, sophus?
[size=135]The best thing to do is reflect, understand, apreciate, and consider.[/size]

LoneMateria

#5
November 25, 2009, 05:13:39 PM
Quote from: "Renegnicat"You'd probably have to do a double blind study on it to find out for sure. Maybe you could ask some organization for funding, sophus?

This is actually one of the .... hypotheses/theories (I honestly don't know how much evidence is behind it) of why some scientists are religious.  But i've heard stories of people when they were kids, going to Sunday school and being told to put Jesus/God on a pedestal that is not to be touched.  I believe this is part of the process of indoctrination.
Quote from: "Richard Lederer"There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages
Quote from: "Demosthenes"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.
Quote from: "Oscar Wilde"Truth, in matters of religion, is simpl

SSY

#6
November 25, 2009, 05:19:24 PM
I'm good at maths, at least I like to think so.
Quote from: "Godschild"SSY: You are fairly smart and to think I thought you were a few fries short of a happy meal.
Quote from: "Godschild"explain to them how and why you decided to be athiest and take the consequences that come along with it
Quote from: "Aedus"Unlike atheists, I'm not an angry prick

Sophus

#7
November 26, 2009, 05:35:06 AM
Quote from: "Whitney"You have to be good at math to be in most of the sciences and there are a lot of atheist scientists.  With my atheist friends a good portion of them seem to be pretty good at math and you can ask most of them "what do you code" and they'll just start telling you about their coding work/projects (a running joke...you don't ask if they code, you ask what...even if you just met them).  Personally, I'm just competent and even then only if I have a calculator.

All I know about tendency towards being good at math is that some study has shown that if both parents are math minded the chances of having an autistic child goes up significantly.
That's a good point. It just seems the more intellectual Christians tend to be in mathematics. Which first strikes me as a lack in creative thinking, but then again, like the philosophers mentioned before, there's some "creative" thinking in their contributions.
‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver
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