People with higher IQs are less likely to believe in God, according to a new study.

 

 

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

Published: 8:03PM BST 11 Jun 2008

God as depicted in La Creazione (Creation) by Michelangelo

Professor Lynn said religious belief had declined in the 20th century Photo: AP

 

Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average.

 

A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed.

 

 

But the conclusions - in a paper for the academic journal Intelligence - have been branded "simplistic" by critics.

 

Professor Lynn, who has provoked controversy in the past with research linking intelligence to race and sex, said university academics were less likely to believe in God than almost anyone else.

 

A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers.

 

A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God.

 

Professor Lynn said most primary school children believed in God, but as they entered adolescence - and their intelligence increased - many started to have doubts.

 

He told Times Higher Education magazine: "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."

 

He said religious belief had declined across 137 developed nations in the 20th century at the same time as people became more intelligent.

 

But Professor Gordon Lynch, director of the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, London, said it failed to take account of a complex range of social, economic and historical factors.

 

"Linking religious belief and intelligence in this way could reflect a dangerous trend, developing a simplistic characterisation of religion as primitive, which - while we are trying to deal with very complex issues of religious and cultural pluralism - is perhaps not the most helpful response," he said.

 

Dr Alistair McFadyen, senior lecturer in Christian theology at Leeds University, said the conclusion had "a slight tinge of Western cultural imperialism as well as an anti-religious sentiment".

 

Dr David Hardman, principal lecturer in learning development at London Metropolitan University, said: "It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief. Nonetheless, there is evidence from other domains that higher levels of intelligence are associated with a greater ability - or perhaps willingness - to question and overturn strongly felt institutions."

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2111174/Intelligent-people-less-likely-to-believe-in-God.html

Hmm I'm a deist because I refuse to believe there isn't something that could be considered a "God" out there... but what it is, I haven't a clue.

 

But organized religion is unhealthy, and I'm glad we're finally getting over that as a species. It was the cause of so many wars and mental illnesses.

 

Maybe soon we'll also get over our irrational faith in government to solve our problems. God & Government go hand in hand.

Yes but Jay that God is not the same thing, far from it.

I believe in God :\

True, maybe the God I believe in isn't a God by the standard definition most people would apply.

 

But Government and God both tend to "externalize the conscience". Your conscience is that little voice in your head that tells you what's right and wrong. So religious people attribute that to God, and end up feeling like they "owe" something to the people who claim to represent God. Maybe it's your money, maybe it's your life. But at the root of all this is the "original sin", that you're an imperfect person because you have imperfect thoughts, and that you should feel guilt. But you're stuck in a sea of sinners! So by going to church and paying your dues, you are "the salt of the earth".

 

On the government side, we have the same root sense of guilt - a sense of fellowship with society's downtrodden, and therefore you must pay taxes! But remember, you're the salt of the earth! Therefore, others don't have this same sense of kindness and philanthropy. So you must ensure they pay their taxes with FORCE. Point a gun at them. Or rather, threaten to. Of course, this is all very moral because the ends justify the means.

I'm pretty intelligent but I believe in God... :happy:

I'm pretty intelligent but I believe in God... :happy:

 

Is that self-prescribed intelligence?

It was prescribed by Michael Jackson & Anna Nicole Smiths' doctors.

Hmm I'm a deist because I refuse to believe there isn't something that could be considered a "God" out there... but what it is, I haven't a clue.

 

But organized religion is unhealthy, and I'm glad we're finally getting over that as a species. It was the cause of so many wars and mental illnesses.

 

Maybe soon we'll also get over our irrational faith in government to solve our problems. God & Government go hand in hand.

 

 

Yes but Jay that God is not the same thing, far from it.

 

Saying you believe in God can imply so many different things. There's a huge gap between christianity and the socratic 'unmoved mover'. The moral of the article isn't 'you have to be stupid in order to believe in God.' or 'intellectuals are a bunch of evil, malicious atheistic commies who smoke pot and use the american flag for toilet paper.' But people who have acute knowledge of the world are naturally more curious and skeptical about the world and aren't content with ignorance unless its of the agnostic nature, thus there's more ambiguousness and uncertainty in the issue for a smart bloke than your average bloke.

Hmm I'm a deist because I refuse to believe there isn't something that could be considered a "God" out there... but what it is, I haven't a clue.

 

But organized religion is unhealthy, and I'm glad we're finally getting over that as a species. It was the cause of so many wars and mental illnesses.

 

Spot on. Couldn't have said it better myself.;)

 

Maybe soon we'll also get over our irrational faith in government to solve our problems. God & Government go hand in hand.

 

Even worse is when you get government controlled by religion, as you have in Iran.

Then you have double trouble.;)

I'm not surprised by this. At all.

 

Also I agree with Jay, religion and governments are both ways for people to fulfill their desires to dominate others. :sleep:

 

Anyway, I looked up all the different denominations of theism and apparently I am a so-called "freethinker" but I normally describe myself as an "atheist" because saying "freethinker" makes you sound sort of full-of-it and stupid etc. I guess I wouldn't reject the concept of a god or some supernatural force if there was actual hard evidence for it; but then it wouldn't really be a supernatural force, now would it? :rolleyes:

I'm pretty intelligent but I believe in God... :happy:

 

:uhoh:

It's certainly true that less intelligent people are far more likely to be susceptible to indoctrination and religious "brainwashing".;)

i don't believe in god.

 

and i certainly believe that athiests are smarter than people like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:dozey:.

This debat reminds me of this documentary (hilarious as its title implies...XD)

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZpREDn4NFA]YouTube - Religulous (now available on DVD)[/ame]

that's a great documentary. :D

that's a great documentary. :D

 

Yeah, I saw it at the theater, it was great! Totally agree with this guy: my answer is 'maybe' but until I see it, I won't believe it...

 

Speaking of brainwashing, I don't know if you've seen this.... It's pretty scary but the way it's filmed is very neutral...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URUOSXJrx8c]YouTube - Jesus Camp[/ame]

 

As Voltaire once said: what surprise me it's not that human intelligence has limites...but it's that human stupidity has none.

AGREED.

^That Voltaire dude has got it goin on...

^That Voltaire dude has got it goin on...

'Voltaire dude' :laugh3: The way you call it, is so funny XD Poor Voltaire.. he was one of our greatest philosopher... Here the 'dude'

 

I don't truly believe in god. My good friend with an IQ of 150 or so is an atheist too.

'Voltaire dude' :laugh3: The way you call it, is so funny XD Poor Voltaire.. he was one of our greatest philosopher... Here the 'dude'

 

I :heart: Voltaire. I was just acting silly. :P

I don't truly believe in god. My good friend with an IQ of 150 or so is an atheist too.

 

IQ tests are bullshit.

 

I am a genius according to IQ tests, which is just simply not true, I'm intelligent but I'm not a genius.

 

You can actually practice and get better at IQ tests too, which means they are not really a valid system of measuring intelligence. In fact I don't think it's possible to rank intelligence.

IQ tests are bullshit.

 

I am a genius according to IQ tests, which is just simply not true, I'm intelligent but I'm not a genius.

 

You can actually practice and get better at IQ tests too, which means they are not really a valid system of measuring intelligence. In fact I don't think it's possible to rank intelligence.

 

I agree

Yeah^

 

i think that people who more trust their rational logical thinking, are less tended to believe in God. But for example, people who are wise, they normally do believe. :P

^that's an odd distinction to make...

 

:edit: btw Voltaire was religious, i.e. not an atheist, and was just critical of certain aspects of organized religion.