Report Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

[KMilz]

Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.

A team led by Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity” in 53 out of 63 studies

Even in extreme old age, intelligent people are less likely to believe, the researchers found - and the reasons why people with high IQs shun religion may not be as simple as previously thought.

Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades

news.yahoo.com

I find it interesting that the correlation seems to be more closely related to the lifestyle of a more intelligent person compared to the lifestyle of a less intelligent person, rather than based off their degree of intelligence. When you have a stable and comfortable relationship, fiscal soundness and the things that you want on top of the things you need, there's less need for religion and the things it offers. I wonder if those factors really have that much influence on how we approach the matter?

 

[DrEvil]

/thread

 

[Accname]

And how do they measure intelligence? Maybe its not "intelligence" (since that is hard to define) but rather the way these IQ-tests are structured.

 

[KMilz]

And how do they measure intelligence? Maybe its not "intelligence" (since that is hard to define) but rather the way these IQ-tests are structured.

Yeah, certainly could be. The article poses an interesting question, although the title is a bit misleading and abrasive to the point of almost being offensive to those who are religious.

 

[mushroom911]

It's rather common for things here in the news section to have a misleading title ^^

 

[camelCase]

I duno.. It seemed pretty obvious to me throughout my entire meager existence.. The only thing new here is that this dude's actually trying to test what I've held to be true (based on the people around me) =P

Edit:
The part about people turning to religion for the support they cannot provide themselves.

 

[Accname]

And what do they mean with "Religion vs Atheist", what is with people who believe in god but not in religion? People who are not part of any religion?
And atheist does not equal atheist. There are some who firmly believe there is no god, and others who just dont know or just dont care,
And just complain when you're not there
You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Radio~o!

 

[DrEvil]

And what do they mean with "Religion vs Atheist", what is with people who believe in god but not in religion? People who are not part of any religion?
And atheist does not equal atheist. There are some who firmly believe there is no god, and others who just dont know or just dont care,
And just complain when you're not there
You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Radio~o!

I thought agnostics were unsure (don't know if god does or does not exist) and atheists are non-believers (certain he does not exist).
Therefore I conclude atheist does equal atheist.

 

[Accname]

You sure? Damn, thats why you are a dr I suppose.

 

[camelCase]

There are also anti-theists!

 

[KMilz]

Yeah, and there are varying degrees of agnosticism, too. I've never understood Atheism... they tend to claim logic and reasoning to rule their verdict when they have no more proof in a god's non-existence than anyone else does of their existence. It doesn't add up to me.

 

[mushroom911]

I thought agnostics were unsure (don't know if god does or does not exist) and atheists are non-believers (certain he does not exist).
Therefore I conclude atheist does equal atheist.

It seems that most people that are actually agnostics wrongfully classify themselves as atheists.
I didn't even know "agnosticism" was a thing until South Park did a thing on it.

 

[BlueMirage]

Yeah, and there are varying degrees of agnosticism, too. I've never understood Atheism... they tend to claim logic and reasoning to rule their verdict when they have no more proof in a god's non-existence than anyone else does of their existence. It doesn't add up to me.

Atheists don't claim that a god or gods do not exist. Antitheists claim that no gods exist.

In fact, Atheists do not claim anything. An easy way to describe Atheism would be, 'Do you believe in Santa Claus, or unicorns?'
There is no evidence that irrefutably shows that Santa Claus or unicorns don't exist, but there is no evidence for their existence either. However, most people do not believe in Santa Claus. That is because the neutral state of a belief, when there is no evidence for that belief, is to not believe in it.
Atheists are exactly like this in regard to gods. They haven't seen any evidence that would support a belief in a god, and what other people have shown them which they claim to be evidence is unconvincing or has been refuted.

 

[KMilz]

Anti theism, Atheism, Agnosticism and Theism are like a big, four-ringed venn-diagram, going in that order. I don't feel like Atheism is even a real thing because I don't think you can know the question without forming some sort of opinion on it, but whatever. I didn't realize the difference between Atheists and anti theists, so thanks for the push to look a little further into it.

 

[Narks]

mensa is a religion

 

[Accname]

Now that we all feel enlightened we can all discuss how much BS this "report" is.
I call 83% BS.
Do I hear 84%? Anybody here say its 84%?

 

[DrEvil]

Now that we all feel enlightened we can all discuss how much BS this "report" is.
I call 83% BS.
Do I hear 84%? Anybody here say its 84%?

I, as an atheist say it's 0% BS

 

[Varine]

Biased studies result in biased results. Not that a review really counts as a study... either way, there have been how many thousands of these studies done? If I were to pick 63 people in Idaho, and ask them if they would be willing to vote for Obama for a third time, chances are I would get a pretty high percentage of people saying no. If I did that in, say, Washington D.C., I would have a much higher rate of people saying yes. This is the same thing, only it's a lot easier to pick the studies you want to review for your research than it is to pick people who will say the right thing.

 

[FireCat]

LOL What does "intelligence" have to do with religion?

 

[KaerfNomekop]

LOL What does "intelligence" have to do with religion?

I think an unbiased study would say, "not much at all".