RE: Atheists= intelligent?
September 25, 2008 at 6:32 am
(This post was last modified: September 25, 2008 at 6:33 am by Alan.)
I wouldn't say atheists are more intelligent, but I would say intelligent people are more likely to be atheists (as studies show). In fact, reversing that statement without proof would be a logical fallacy.
I think it has to do with being sceptical. Having a high intelligence means you analyse your assumptions more, whereas having a low intelligence means you're more likely to simply insist that your assumptions are right. Religion is based on a highly unlikely assumption so it's evident that intelligent people will consider that assumption false (sometimes even at a very early age, which probably makes the de-conversion process much easier).
Notice that intelligent people who ARE religious are often much harder to de-convert than relatively "dumb" people, exactly BECAUSE they are intelligent. They actually DID analyse their assumptions but instead of discarding them further rationalised them. I guess that would be the difference between being stubborn (a deeply human condition, regardless of intelligence, I might add) and being open-minded (which is more often found in intelligent people, I guess).
Saying that dumber people are more easily attracted to simple truths (which religion is chock-full of) is a truism. It doesn't mean all religious people are stupid, though. Being an atheist doesn't make you smarter -- being smarter MAY make you an atheist, though.
I think it has to do with being sceptical. Having a high intelligence means you analyse your assumptions more, whereas having a low intelligence means you're more likely to simply insist that your assumptions are right. Religion is based on a highly unlikely assumption so it's evident that intelligent people will consider that assumption false (sometimes even at a very early age, which probably makes the de-conversion process much easier).
Notice that intelligent people who ARE religious are often much harder to de-convert than relatively "dumb" people, exactly BECAUSE they are intelligent. They actually DID analyse their assumptions but instead of discarding them further rationalised them. I guess that would be the difference between being stubborn (a deeply human condition, regardless of intelligence, I might add) and being open-minded (which is more often found in intelligent people, I guess).
Saying that dumber people are more easily attracted to simple truths (which religion is chock-full of) is a truism. It doesn't mean all religious people are stupid, though. Being an atheist doesn't make you smarter -- being smarter MAY make you an atheist, though.