Religion and smartness

[Anthropos]

I picked up this:

No argument there, they obviously use it as a tool of popularity to find sympathy with the masses. Having said that ... I do believe Putin is a Russian nationalist at heart and therefore he most definitely has a soft spot for Russian tradition, including Orthodoxy. As for genuine religious conversion, I wouldn't believe it. He's way too smart for that.

So tell me, what do you think:

• Are religious people stupid?
• Are religious people religious because they are stupid?
• Are stupid people religious?
• Are stupid people stupid because ...

And so on.

[Loki]

I must admit I was a little biased with that quote. I do not believe religious people are necessarily stupid. Many intelligent people are religious.

Are religious people stupid?

Not necessarily.

Are religious people religious because they are stupid?

No, they are religious for various reasons. The most fundamental one being tradition and how they were brought up/taught. What people influenced their lives. However, I doubt that many very smart people who are independent of thought, forward-thinking, of critical-analytical mind and inquisitiveness would end up being religious. They are more likely to excel in scientific, natural, medical and astronomical discovery.

Are stupid people religious?

Most of them are, yes. IMO.

Are stupid people stupid because ...

Because they were born that way.

[antonio]

No.

[Brännvin]

For a materialist vision of reality, then yes...

[Monolith]

Most of them are, yes. IMO.

But are they really religious, as in understanding the fundamental metaphysical principles of their religion and adhering to them, or are they just imitating their ancestors, as religion and culture are interconnected?

[Gooding]

Quite excellent questions, these.

So tell me, what do you think:

• Are religious people stupid?
• Are religious people religious because they are stupid?
• Are stupid people religious?
• Are stupid people stupid because ...

And so on.

First point. No, religious people aren't stupid. Religious people who've spent time studying their catechism, meditated on it, read books clarifying their faith are quite obviously not stupid because they've invested thought on their beliefs.

Second point. Religious people tend to be religious because of upbringing and personal devotion.

Third point. Stupid people might hide behind religion, or use it as an excuse for bigoted and/or psychotic behavior, but that doesn't earn them the title of being religious.It earns them the title of being an embarassment to whatever religion they claim to represent.

Fourth point. Stupid people are stupid because they don't take time to think.

[Loki]

But are they really religious, as in understanding the fundamental metaphysical principles of their religion and adhering to them, or are they just imitating their ancestors, as religion and culture are interconnected?

I think only a small minority of Christians, for example, really live the Christian religious life as intended by scriptures and teachings. The vast majority of Christians are only so nominally, because of tradition, inheritance and family/peer pressure.

[Loddfafner]

• Are religious people stupid?
• Are religious people religious because they are stupid?
• Are stupid people religious?
• Are stupid people stupid because ...

Yes and no. Religion can certainly be a refuge for the stupid and those who are unable to stray from the beliefs of their parents. I get a strong impression that there is a high correlation between stupidity and faith. This is not a problem as we cannot all be übermenschen.

On the other hand, it has been said that high intelligence may lead not so much to a higher probability of finding the truth as to a greater ability to defend truly absurd theories.

[Aemma]

Interesting questions and interesting answers Good People. I found this little nugget from Wikipedia on Intelligence and Religiosity. I thought it pertinent to the discussion.

Studies comparing religious belief and I.Q.

In 2008, intelligence researcher Helmuth Nyborg examined whether IQ relates to denomination and income, using representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, which includes intelligence tests on a representative selection of American youth, where they have also replied to questions about religious belief. His results, published in the scientific journal Intelligence demonstrated that on average, Atheists scored 1.95 IQ points higher than Agnostics, 3.82 points higher than Liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than Dogmatic persuasions. [4] "I'm not saying that believing in God makes you dumber. My hypothesis is that people with a low intelligence are more easily drawn toward religions, which give answers that are certain, while people with a high intelligence are more skeptical," says the professor.[5]


The relationship between countries' belief in a god and average Intelligence Quotient, measured by Lynn, Harvey & Nyborg.[6]Nyborg also co-authored a study with Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Ulster, which compared religious belief and average national IQs in 137 countries. [6] The study analysed the issue from several viewpoints. Firstly, using data from a U.S. study of 6,825 adolescents, the authors found that atheists scored 6 g-IQ points higher than those adhering to a religion.

Secondly, the authors investigated the link between religiosity and intelligence on a country level. Among the sample of 137 countries, only 23 (17%) had more than 20% of atheists, which constituted “virtually all the higher IQ countries.” The authors reported a correlation of 0.60 between atheism rates and level of intelligence, which is “highly statistically significant.” This portion of the study uses the same data set as Lynn's work IQ and the Wealth of Nations, which has drawn criticism of accuracy and accusations of statistical manipulation. See main article at IQ and the Wealth of Nations#Criticism

Commenting on the study in The Daily Telegraph, Lynn said "Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God."

Entire entry here

[Bari]

Dumb or intelligent, it is within our psychological need to have something to believe in. A life after death, explanation for why we are here and how,...
This curiosity is shared by all humans on one level or the other. We all believe in something, but is believing in things that are not scientifically proven=stupid? . We all need something to hold onto i think. Some more than others.

Stupid people are more likely to be blind followers doing whatever they get commanded to, meanwhile the intelligent individual not blinded by religious extremism will also have the intelligence to question or try to read beyond the lines. There are several intelligent religious people, but the fact some intelligent people might be religious people doesn't bring their intelligence into questioning, but rather it shows that despite being gifted they also need something rather supernatural to believe in, or maybe its a sign of their fear of a world they cannot explain by science alone.

Believing in life after death empowers humanity's most powerful emotion, hope.

Without hope, the world would become a very dark place indeed. Hope is that 'white light' at the end of the black tunnel. Hope is the strength we so desperately need. We hope for a better day tomorrow; we hope for a good grade in class or a promotion at work. We work to advance these hopes into dreams and ambitions all the while retaining their basis as hope.

On a larger scale, people hope for their spirits to ascend into heaven when their body fails to survive. They hope that there is purpose to their existence, and hope that it will not end as a stone memorial and burial into the ground.

This hope gives us the strength to live while we are alive, and the strength to accept death when it is our time.

Where there is a lack of hope, there is an over-abundance of fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of what is to come. Without living to hope, you would be forced to die from fear.

Thus stands hope as the ultimate need to believing in life after death.