Atheists are MORE intelligent than religious people because they rely on facts rather than intuition

James-bond

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Atheists are MORE intelligent than religious people because they rely on facts rather than intuition, research claims
  • Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence as they rely on intuition
  • Strength of conviction is inversely correlated with cognitive performance
  • Agnostics are smarter than believers but less intelligent than atheists
By Phoebe Weston For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 16:12 GMT, 29 January 2018 | UPDATED: 16:12 GMT, 29 January 2018

Religious people are not as smart as atheists, according to new research.

Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence because they rely on intuition and not facts.

The strength of religious conviction is inversely linked with intellect, researchers found.

Scroll down for video



Religious people are less smart than atheists, according to new research. Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence because they rely on intuition and not facts (stock)

Researchers led by Imperial College London surveyed more than 63,000 participants on online tasks that measured planning, reasoning, attention and memory.

Participants indicated whether they were atheist, religious or agnostic and completed a 30-minute set of 12 cognitive tasks.

Scientists found that the effect of religiosity was robust regardless of people's age, education and country of origin.

Agnostics are smarter than believers but less intelligent than atheists, researchers found.


The strength of religious conviction is inversely correlated with cognitive performance, researchers found (stock image)

People cling onto moral guidance and existential comfort and they don't let go of them easily, he said.

His comments are based on the cognitive theory of religion which states that belief is a by-product of our cognitive equipment.

Our brain is primed to see meaning everywhere, which helps us make sense of random events.

Children like the idea that there is order and design in the world and it is actually useful as it allows them to reason about possible threats that we cannot see, for example a predator lurking in a nearby bush.

According to Mr Lawton, although this is an evolutionary advantage, it also facilitates the build-up of delusional belief and a ‘feeling of rightness’.

'To be an actual atheist and reject all religious ideas is not humanly possible - we'll still fill that hole with something’, said Mr Lawton.

As long as existential uncertainty exists, Mr Lawton claims religion will not disappear completely.

paper published in Frontiers in Psychology.

'A prominent hypothesis states that this correlation reflects behavioural biases toward intuitive problem solving, which causes errors when intuition conflicts with reasoning.'

Religious people have a lower IQ as a result of bad performance on tasks where intuition and logic are at odds with one another, writes the Independent.

They found in certain tasks 'atheists outperform the most dogmatic religious group by a substantial margin' but in other tasks this was not the case.

Researchers believe the disparity is due to behavioural biases rather than impaired general intelligence.

'These findings provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that the religiosity effect relates to conflict [between reasoning and intuition] as opposed to reasoning ability or intelligence more generally,' they wrote.

Earlier this month a survey revealed that one in four non-believers pray when confronted by tough times - despite insisting they are not religious.

For atheists and agnostics, personal crisis or tragedy is the most common reason for them to resort to prayer, with a quarter admitting they pray for comfort or to feel less lonely.

More than half of all adults in the UK pray regularly despite only one in three praying in a place of worship, according to a poll carried out by ComRes on behalf of the Christian aid agency, Tearfund.

A third of people pray in the morning or before they go to sleep. People are also increasingly likely to solicit support from God while cooking or exercising.

And one in five pray while doing household chores while 15 per cent pray while they commute.

ARE WE HEADING FOR A GODLESS FUTURE?
Graham Lawton, author of the new book 'How to be Human,' suggests that as our lives become more stable, society could become 'godless' as our need for religion fades away.

When children encounter religion, Mr Lawson argues they find the explanations it offers intuitively appealing and believable - making them born believers - but this instinct is drummed out of them by education.

The author claimed the reason people continue to be believe it because 'they haven't thought that hard about it'.

However, although the future will be increasingly secular, humans will never totally lose the god instinct.

As long as existential uncertainty exists Mr Lawton claims religion will not disappear completely - even though he believes some of the things in the bible are 'just crazy'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ious-people-smart-atheists.html#ixzz55b4WEhfV
 

Mikesingh

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Religion is a human construct, not nature and science. Humanism is perhaps an alternative which is a rationalist outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.

Humanism is nonreligious, espousing no belief in a realm or beings imagined to transcend ordinary experience.

Well, to each his own. If you are steeped in religion or an atheist, so be it! Whatever floats your boat.
 

James-bond

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Or may be it is that intelligent people question things and hence prefer atheism. And that less smart people find answers in religion?
Yes

Cause or effect? But because someone is just raised as an atheist, doesn’t make him/her more intelligent than others!
Did u say the same thing ... If someone raised as a theist (believer) live as an idiot! :bounce:
 

Haldiram

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Atheists are MORE intelligent than religious people because they rely on facts rather than intuition, research claims
  • Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence as they rely on intuition
  • Strength of conviction is inversely correlated with cognitive performance
  • Agnostics are smarter than believers but less intelligent than atheists
By Phoebe Weston For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 16:12 GMT, 29 January 2018 | UPDATED: 16:12 GMT, 29 January 2018

Religious people are not as smart as atheists, according to new research.

Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence because they rely on intuition and not facts.

The strength of religious conviction is inversely linked with intellect, researchers found.

Scroll down for video



Religious people are less smart than atheists, according to new research. Scientists claim believers have diminished intelligence because they rely on intuition and not facts (stock)

Researchers led by Imperial College London surveyed more than 63,000 participants on online tasks that measured planning, reasoning, attention and memory.

Participants indicated whether they were atheist, religious or agnostic and completed a 30-minute set of 12 cognitive tasks.

Scientists found that the effect of religiosity was robust regardless of people's age, education and country of origin.

Agnostics are smarter than believers but less intelligent than atheists, researchers found.


The strength of religious conviction is inversely correlated with cognitive performance, researchers found (stock image)

People cling onto moral guidance and existential comfort and they don't let go of them easily, he said.

His comments are based on the cognitive theory of religion which states that belief is a by-product of our cognitive equipment.

Our brain is primed to see meaning everywhere, which helps us make sense of random events.

Children like the idea that there is order and design in the world and it is actually useful as it allows them to reason about possible threats that we cannot see, for example a predator lurking in a nearby bush.

According to Mr Lawton, although this is an evolutionary advantage, it also facilitates the build-up of delusional belief and a ‘feeling of rightness’.

'To be an actual atheist and reject all religious ideas is not humanly possible - we'll still fill that hole with something’, said Mr Lawton.

As long as existential uncertainty exists, Mr Lawton claims religion will not disappear completely.

paper published in Frontiers in Psychology.

'A prominent hypothesis states that this correlation reflects behavioural biases toward intuitive problem solving, which causes errors when intuition conflicts with reasoning.'

Religious people have a lower IQ as a result of bad performance on tasks where intuition and logic are at odds with one another, writes the Independent.

They found in certain tasks 'atheists outperform the most dogmatic religious group by a substantial margin' but in other tasks this was not the case.

Researchers believe the disparity is due to behavioural biases rather than impaired general intelligence.

'These findings provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that the religiosity effect relates to conflict [between reasoning and intuition] as opposed to reasoning ability or intelligence more generally,' they wrote.

Earlier this month a survey revealed that one in four non-believers pray when confronted by tough times - despite insisting they are not religious.

For atheists and agnostics, personal crisis or tragedy is the most common reason for them to resort to prayer, with a quarter admitting they pray for comfort or to feel less lonely.

More than half of all adults in the UK pray regularly despite only one in three praying in a place of worship, according to a poll carried out by ComRes on behalf of the Christian aid agency, Tearfund.

A third of people pray in the morning or before they go to sleep. People are also increasingly likely to solicit support from God while cooking or exercising.

And one in five pray while doing household chores while 15 per cent pray while they commute.

ARE WE HEADING FOR A GODLESS FUTURE?
Graham Lawton, author of the new book 'How to be Human,' suggests that as our lives become more stable, society could become 'godless' as our need for religion fades away.

When children encounter religion, Mr Lawson argues they find the explanations it offers intuitively appealing and believable - making them born believers - but this instinct is drummed out of them by education.

The author claimed the reason people continue to be believe it because 'they haven't thought that hard about it'.

However, although the future will be increasingly secular, humans will never totally lose the god instinct.

As long as existential uncertainty exists Mr Lawton claims religion will not disappear completely - even though he believes some of the things in the bible are 'just crazy'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ious-people-smart-atheists.html#ixzz55b4WEhfV
This is stupid on so many levels.

It's an apples and oranges comparison. It's not a zero sum game. Religion and science are not in the same category, they are not a substitute for each other. Everything that is quantifiable goes into science books, and everything that is non-quantifiable goes into religion. If they're saying that everything that is no-quantifiable is useless to human existence, they're the stupid ones. Intuition, trust, faith, 'feelings' are a part of human existence. The codification of these beliefs results results in Religion.

The clash between Science and Religion happens in Abrahamic societies because these cults are rigid and killed scientists in the middle ages. It doesn't apply to the Dharmic spectrum of belief systems.
 

ashdoc

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Atheists do not produce much children. So however smart atheism seems to be , it is not .

For example Europe which is partly athiest is headed toward demographic extinction and takeover by Muslims .
 
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Screambowl

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if questioning about wearing decent cloths is concerned then I would say atheists should also not question when it comes to maa behen ki gali to them.

Language, cloths and other habits are part of a culture.. you question one , then be ready to take the derogatory form of the other habits.
 

Blood+

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Atheist is just a sound Cool factor right now admit it !
Gand Fategi To Pauch Jayenge Mandir Matha Phodne.


And how do you know that again??How many atheists have you meet in your life considering we form such a tiny minority in this country??Heck, I got impaled right through my abdomen when I was in the 4th standard and I never cried to any imaginary shit like what you folks say gods, because I didn't see the need!!Heck, few years back, I got hospitalized after coughing out blood for a couple of days and the doctor suspected lung cancer yet I never felt the need to pray to any of your gawds!!The thing is you dumb fuck, you just saying that yourself to feel better about yourself and nothing else.
People become more and more religious as they age, I've seen my own cousin turn from Nastik to Janeudhari
Then he was never an atheist.My grand father was an ardent proponent of atheism and his atheism turned into out right anti-theism as he aged!!
 

Screambowl

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Atheist is just a sound Cool factor right now admit it !
Gand Fategi To Pauch Jayenge Mandir Matha Phodne.
People become more and more religious as they age, I've seen my own cousin turn from Nastik to Janeudhari
I have known many atheist taking God's name when they fly in aeroplane.. jab turbulence ki wajah se jahaz hilta hai toh salo ko bhagwan yaad ata hai
 

Blood+

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I have known many atheist taking God's name when they fly in aeroplane.. jab turbulence ki wajah se jahaz hilta hai toh salo ko bhagwan yaad ata hai
Like we haven't heard this argument from you religitard types a countless times before!!
 

Blood+

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You lived only because Allah wanted you to live. Allah is our lord and savior and, in your case, also your surgeon. Be grateful you ungrateful waffle!
Ok bro. :D
.....................................
 

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