Religious People Are Less Intelligent | Vital Football

Religious People Are Less Intelligent

JamTomorrow

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Religious People Are Less Intelligent Than Atheists, Concludes New Study

A review of 63 scientific studies dating back to 1928 has concluded that religious people are less intelligent than non-believers.

Only 10 of the 63 studies showed a positive correlation between intelligence and religiosity.

The paper, entitled The Relation Between Intelligence and Religiosity: A Meta-Analysis and Some Proposed Explanations, was led by Professor Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester, and was published in the academic journal Personality and Social Psychology Review on 6 August.

Zuckerman’s team studied decades worth of analysis, noting many atheism and intellect studies “share one central theme – the premise that religious beliefs are irrational, not anchored in science, not testable, and therefore unappealing to intelligent people who ‘know better’.”

The study defined intelligence as the “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.”

Religiosity is defined as involvement in some (or all) facets of religion, which includes belief in the supernatural, offering gifts to this supernatural, and performing rituals affirming their beliefs.

Further signs were measured using surveys, church attendance, and membership in religious organisations, Ars Technica writes.

Among the young, the study found more intelligent children were more likely to turn away from religion – as were those among the very elderly, with the vast volume of data giving some insight into why that seems to be the case.

The report adds:

“Intelligent people typically spend more time in school—a form of self-regulation that may yield long-term benefits… More intelligent people get higher level jobs [which] may lead to higher self-esteem, and encourage personal control beliefs… more intelligent people are more likely to get and stay married… though for intelligent people, that too comes later in life. We therefore suggest that as intelligent people move from young adulthood to adulthood and then to middle age, the benefits of intelligence may continue to accrue.”

For more
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/13/religious-people-less-intelligent-atheists-_n_3747511.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


This should be fun :17:



 
Is this another "luck of the draw thread" Depending on how one is born?

Wouldnt an intelligent person be someone that just accepts all species of man kind for how they are? Non judgemental etc?
Isnt existence just about living and that everything else is just irrelevant? we all die dont we? Im not sure who can judge a life as intelligent or not - are these judges a super life, or is it something they possess inside that gives them some sort of solace?

Does a businessman with all the degrees under the sun understand how to live as a tramp on the streets? The winters, how to find food, who to target and how when begging? Does a businessman with all the degrees under the sun know how to live in the Australian outback? Or in remote Brazilian/African forests?

Not just this but we are all pretty much capable(under the right circumstances) to be educated in a similar way are we not?

Are all monks stupid because they believe in higher things? And the non religious thugs that may trash town/city centres are they classed as clever?

Who is judging here? And what is the criteria to become such a judge? And who judges the system to decide what is intellect and what is not? :69:
 
Is that a puzzle? If you put the words in a different order do they make sense!?!?

:81:

Lol... :35:
 
Its just another form of discrimination when you think about it.

Humans as a species are all similar in their genetic make up, are they not? So intellect must also be similar based on the life of the said individual. Im not sure who is the judge of such though!

If you live in an tribe in the Brazilian rainforest, im not sure how much knowledge knowing the square root of 64 will do for you. However knowing which snake is poisonous might just help the cause! - this is regardless of who is religious or not. We all as species will live as our surroundings dictate. - there is not much a measure of intellect, as its really just about survival.
 
IMO someones intelligience should be measured like a graphic equaliser with several categories.
Academic intelligence, common sense, social capabilities, concentration span, loyalty, physical capabilities etc....

Ideally you want them all to be about average.

There is fuck all point in being an academic genius if you never talk to anyone: as is often the case.

But what someone thinks might happen to us when we die, or how we began etc... is totally irrelevant.
 
Yeah, you would say that Jim and Green Tea, you are both amongst the thickies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:17: :17: :17: :17: :17:

In fact, please do let me know if I speak too fast for you or if you don't understand what I'm saying, obviously I find it hard to dumb down due to my superior intelligence....

:14:
 
All i've got to say on this is no matter if you are religious or super intelligent deep down don't we all hope for some sort of afterlife or a heaven of some sort where we could see our luv'd ones again, i miss my nan loads i'm not religious but i hope its true is my take on it, i would never look down on a fellow human being for there beliefs as long as they are alright with me im alright with them, there you go that took some of my few brain cells to sort this out ffs!
 
Green Tea - 14/8/2013 23:12

Its just another form of discrimination when you think about it.

Humans as a species are all similar in their genetic make up, are they not? So intellect must also be similar based on the life of the said individual. Im not sure who is the judge of such though!

If you live in an tribe in the Brazilian rainforest, im not sure how much knowledge knowing the square root of 64 will do for you. However knowing which snake is poisonous might just help the cause! - this is regardless of who is religious or not. We all as species will live as our surroundings dictate. - there is not much a measure of intellect, as its really just about survival.

I think you missed the bit where the article said...

The study defined intelligence as the “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.”


I would say to live successfully in the Brazilian Rain Forest you would need all of these. Creating your own definitions of intelligence is just a method of self-reassurance for you, not a useful measure for anyone else.
 
No Clive. I have no hope for an after life, this one is bad enough, I don't want another one!!

:2:

Funnily enough I agree about missing a nan though, mine was ace and I'd love to give her another hug!!
 
Whatever you believe or don't believe I think at the core of all of us there is a need to know what, where and how it all became. Who created all of this? You can take it back to the tiniest particle of dust and there still would be a question. Where did it come from?

More questions than answers and the more I find out the less I know is a very true line from the song.

Ah Clive you have to look at this from a personal view. I mean what you think heaven is and I think it is are 2 different things. Even if I was talking to a person of the same faith as me it would be different. We are all as unique as we are of 1.

I miss my Mom. My youngster miss their Nan. I arrive on eternities shore I want her their waiting for me
 
HeathfieldRoad1874 - 15/8/2013 21:55

Green Tea - 14/8/2013 23:12

Its just another form of discrimination when you think about it.

Humans as a species are all similar in their genetic make up, are they not? So intellect must also be similar based on the life of the said individual. Im not sure who is the judge of such though!

If you live in an tribe in the Brazilian rainforest, im not sure how much knowledge knowing the square root of 64 will do for you. However knowing which snake is poisonous might just help the cause! - this is regardless of who is religious or not. We all as species will live as our surroundings dictate. - there is not much a measure of intellect, as its really just about survival.

I think you missed the bit where the article said...

The study defined intelligence as the “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.”


I would say to live successfully in the Brazilian Rain Forest you would need all of these. Creating your own definitions of intelligence is just a method of self-reassurance for you, not a useful measure for anyone else.

But im not creating my own definition of intelligence. Hence me bringing up the diversity of all mankind and using a tribe in the Brazilian rainforest as just one example of such diversity.

Its the researchers behind the article that have created a definition of intelligence. Its "their" ideals of intelligence based on "their" ideals of = “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.”

Could this not be labelled a discriminative article based on just one sided naive and biased thinking? And if anything, the intelligence behind the research could be somewhat lacking itself in intelligence?
 
James06 - 15/8/2013 21:31

IMO someones intelligience should be measured like a graphic equaliser with several categories.
Academic intelligence, common sense, social capabilities, concentration span, loyalty, physical capabilities etc....

Agree, hence the reason why employer aptitude testing often involves screening for all of these things.
 
Its actually quite funny how the system labels what is intelligent.

Some suit that studied accountancy, Law, science etc for the best part of his life, may then get a nice office, nice car, nice house, glass of chardonnay etc etc - may be classed as intelligent.

When the refuge collector, who may enjoy a pint in the local, drives an average car, average house etc - may be classed as less intelligent.

Yet both will live their lives and die. Isnt the smart guy the one that was happiest in life, or is the smart guy the one that dies with the largest bank account? Blimey ive seen so many upper class as miserable as sin and working class as happy as Larry.

If being religious makes one live happy/fulfilled and then die in peace - then he/she must be smarter than you think...That's what its all about at the end of day, isnt it? Its not rights or wrongs. Its not intelligent or stupid - just living and dying, maybe some do it better than others. At the end of day,this is your journey.
 
I kind of want to agree but there are more variable to it than that... I personally believe organised religion is bad for humanity... Its great and for some people it works but unfortunately something it is little more than a means to control the average halfwit...

I had to do art history in school so I decided to cover architecture and a lot of it had to do with churches... And all the depictions you see in churches on the glass and sculptures is because 99% of people couldnt read so they made these so everyone knew the stories...

I dont believe you're dumb if you follow a set of beliefs but avid practitioners are dumb... Its too easy to brainwash a dummy and thats where fundamentalism comes from... Those who lust for power will use these texts to manipulate the poorly educated to do 'Gods' bidding or in other words their bidding...
I dont think believing in a higher power or God whatever you want to call means you're dumb but I do think if you believe in the Devil then you are stupid as fuck...


Anyway take that with a pinch of salt I wear and never take off a cross around my wrist that my mother got me in Lourdes...
 
Green Tea - 16/8/2013 08:27

Its actually quite funny how the system labels what is intelligent.

Some suit that studied accountancy, Law, science etc for the best part of his life, may then get a nice office, nice car, nice house, glass of chardonnay etc etc - may be classed as intelligent.

When the refuge collector, who may enjoy a pint in the local, drives an average car, average house etc - may be classed as less intelligent.

Yet both will live their lives and die. Isnt the smart guy the one that was happiest in life, or is the smart guy the one that dies with the largest bank account? Blimey ive seen so many upper class as miserable as sin and working class as happy as Larry.

If being religious makes one live happy/fulfilled and then die in peace - then he/she must be smarter than you think...That's what its all about at the end of day, isnt it? Its not rights or wrongs. Its not intelligent or stupid - just living and dying, maybe some do it better than others. At the end of day,this is your journey.

You've raised questions that many anthropologists would debate. How successful someone is (financially) or having studied at some 'prestigious' universtiy shouldn't be a measure of intelligence but it is perceived that way in the modern world (could almost say it is ingrained in our psyche).

It is one of the reasons why quite often underprivilleged people tend to want the fancy car, big house, designer clothes, etc when they come into money. Why? These are social status symbols and they have existed for thousands of years. As they say, 'Money doesn't buy happiness, but it goes along way to making life easier'. To a certain extent I agree. Living hand to mouth is tougher, and more stressful.

Back on topic, I am not a religious person myself, but I can't see why having certain beliefs would lower one's intelligence. There have been studies linking intelligence and race in regards to brain mass and size, given the link between race and religion it wouldn't be too far a stretch to link intelligence to certain religions, so that would negate the original post statement.
 
Green Tea - 16/8/2013 00:27

Its actually quite funny how the system labels what is intelligent.

Some suit that studied accountancy, Law, science etc for the best part of his life, may then get a nice office, nice car, nice house, glass of chardonnay etc etc - may be classed as intelligent.

When the refuge collector, who may enjoy a pint in the local, drives an average car, average house etc - may be classed as less intelligent.

Yet both will live their lives and die. Isnt the smart guy the one that was happiest in life, or is the smart guy the one that dies with the largest bank account? Blimey ive seen so many upper class as miserable as sin and working class as happy as Larry.

If being religious makes one live happy/fulfilled and then die in peace - then he/she must be smarter than you think...That's what its all about at the end of day, isnt it? Its not rights or wrongs. Its not intelligent or stupid - just living and dying, maybe some do it better than others. At the end of day,this is your journey.

Tell you what GT, you get some shit on here mate but that is one of the best posts I've seen on this site, and I agree wholeheartedly.

A mate of mine is a partner in an investment company, specialising in hedge funds and a multi multi millionaire. An oxbridge graduate with a personal property portfolio worth over 100 million. The other week his wife purchased a horse, the total cost of the purchase was 6 million euros, which he signed off. Did I mention sorry it is his ex wife!
I've had this bloke almost sobbing to me about how unhappy he is, and how he envies my family set up and how I should never ever jeapordise it by working to much (chance would be a fine thing!!).
But it highlights precisely what you are saying.

The academic intelligent folk are often social lepers, self centred, unable to prioritise correctly, unable to maintain friendships and relationships and ultimately are often desperately unhappy.

That for me makes them unintelligent overall. Much more so than the bloke on average wage, a loving family around him and mates on every corner. Even if he does only holiday in Skegness once a year, he will die a happier man.

I mix with all sorts of people, and I often find it's the common man who is happier. Just within my company alone - our forklift truck lads have good banter at work, they do an honest shift, they go to the pub and the match at weekends, and they spend lots of time with their families. Whilst the MD and the senior sales guys are living out of lonely hotels, spending lots of time away from their families and catching up on paperwork during evening and weekends. But yeah they got an ensuite bathroom and theyfly an extra couple of hours for their annual holidays when they can try ad reaquaint themselves with their kids. Nice one.