<p>
[quote]
religion is just faith
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, which is why many intelligent people are uncomfortable buying into a belief system whole-scale without any empirical evidence other than the people around them believing in it too. There have been a few moments in history where blind, unquestioning faith didn't work out all too well.</p>
<p>It's not only faith in a religion, it's a conviction that all the other religions that exist are wrong.</p>
<p>I think that there might be a correlation when it comes to intelligence in science, but it's not the rule. I know (and know of) a lot of intelligent people in the sciences or not who are religious. </p>
<p>All I can really say is that the more intelligent you are, the more you can understand the reasons for a certain viewpoint and then make your own decisions based on those reasons. For some that leads to religion, and for others it leads to atheism. And for some it's in-between...such as an agnostic belief or if someone agrees with most but not all of a religion's teachings.</p>
<p>According to the studies described in Wikipedia, non-believers have higher IQs and are more educated. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Studies comparing religious belief and I.Q.
In 2006, a self-published study was undertaken[3] to investigate, on a country-by-country level, the possibility of a link between the importance of religion to citizens and their average IQ. The study found that the strength of religious belief in countries was inversely related to their average IQ. The countries with higher IQs on average had significantly lower levels of religious belief than those with lower average IQs.</p>
<p>In 2007, Danish newspapers reported that a study conducted by controversial intelligence researcher Helmuth Nyborg estimated that atheists' IQs were on average nearly 6 points higher than believers'.[4] The study is based on 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. " 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 former professor. [5]</p>
<p>Studies comparing religious belief and educational attainment</p>
<p>In 1975, Norman Poythress studied a sample of 234 US college undergraduates, grouping them into relatively homogeneous religious types based on the similarity of their religious beliefs, and compared their personality characteristics. He found that "Literally-oriented religious Believers did not differ significantly from Mythologically-oriented Believers on measures of intelligence, authoritarianism, or racial prejudice. Religious Believers as a group were found to be significantly less intelligent and more authoritarian than religious Skeptics." He used SAT's as a measure of intelligence for this study. [6]</p>
<p>In the US, according to raw data from the 2004 General Social Survey, those with graduate degrees were the least likely to believe in the afterlife or the Bible as the word of God, suggesting a link between religious belief and lower educational attainment. [7]</p>
<p>A weak negative correlation between education and Christian fundamentalism was found by Burton et al. (1989), a small study comparing the religious beliefs and educational achievements of white, Protestant residents of Delaware County, Indiana. Contrary to the researchers' expectations, fundamentalist converts were not less educated people. [8]</p>
<p>In contrast, a 1992 study found a significantly high correlation between education and strong religious beliefs in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The subjects were asked to rank their belief (1) That Jesus is the Divine Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah; (2) That Joseph Smith, Jr., was inspired by God in the formation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and (3) that this church has the only current authority to administer the teachings and ordinances of Christ's restored church. 85 percent of the post-graduate subjects returned "strong" or "very strong" agreement with the first statement.[9] Belief in God and in the divinity of Jesus Christ showed a similarly high proportion.[10] The percentages contrasted enough with mainstream survey data that the study was performed a second time, with the same results.[11]
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As for religious behavior and educational attainment:
[quote]
In Australia, 23% of Christian church attenders have earned a university or postgraduate degree, whereas the figure for the general population is 13%.[12] Christianity is the predominant religion in Australia, although adherence is falling[13]. Commentators on the Survey attribute the educational levels to sociological factors, such as age, class and income, making no claims about intelligence.[12] [14]</p>
<p>In the US, religious behavior also increases with education level, according to raw data from the 2004 General Social Survey, which indicates that 30.4% of those with a graduate degree attend religious services weekly or more, a statistically significant proportion, higher than any lesser educated group.[7] Further the group with the highest percentage of “never attending” was composed by those with only a high school education or less.
(This interpretation of the data may not account for the following factors: Nonreligious people could attend church during religious holidays only, or they could attend church because the rest of their family does.[citation needed])</p>
<p>Studies of Mormons in the US also display a high positive correlation between education levels and religiosity. Survey research indicated that 41% of Mormons with only elementary school education attend church regularly. By contrast, 76% of Mormon college graduates attend church regularly and 78% of Mormons who went beyond their college degrees to do graduate study attend church regularly.[15] Again, the researchers do not equate this educational level with intelligence.</p>
<p>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Religiosity</a> and intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's not only faith in a religion, it's a conviction that all the other religions that exist are wrong.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>pretty much the reason for millenia of war and violence.</p>
<p>but i sort of disagree. i think an educated person is more likely to have faith in something as opposed to following a specific religion. i consider myself intelligent, and educated but also religious in a way.</p>
<p>if you don't have faith in something, what gives you goals in life? if a person has no faith, they are more likely to be apathetic about life.</p>
<p>although, there is a distinction between being religious and being ignorant. someone who completely disregards the beliefs and customs of another religion is definitely not intelligent. in fact i would probably consider them a fool.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if you don't have faith in something, what gives you goals in life? if a person has no faith, they are more likely to be apathetic about life.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Motivation to raise a family? To get a job in a field that you truly enjoy? To become educated and well-read? To meet new people and make new friends? To pursue your hobbies and interest while still maintaining financial security? </p>
<p>There are countless ways one can get goals in life without needing to feel the need to appease a higher power.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if you don't have faith in something, what gives you goals in life? if a person has no faith, they are more likely to be apathetic about life.
[/quote]
[citation needed]</p>
<p>Just because someone doesn't have faith in a supreme being doesn't mean that they're like "You know what? Life is pointless. Let's go sit on the couch."</p>
<p>No.
Faith as in, rationalization of life. Religion isn't just about a supreme being. It's about how you treat others as well as yourself and a perspective and appreciation for life. Among others.</p>
<p>If you lack these things, being educated and setting goals and having a family hasn't much true value or meaning in life. It's just going through the motions. And at the end, you say, "So. I did all of this, and it has been cool. But why? What have I achieved in all of this? Why was it worth it all?"</p>
<p>We are not like bugs. Here to be born, reproduce, continue the species, and die. We have a thought process.</p>
<p>We are given almost a century to contemplate our existence and pass on ideas and values to our offspring to ultimately better society (potentially).</p>
<p>I am not like arguing or anything. This is just my perspective on things. I am kind of philosophical. I can pretty much find a way to question anything.</p>
<p>I think there's a difference between Religion and what you believe, or faith, as jackht27 said. I don't think there's one right Religion. Yes, you can say you are this religion, or that religion, and perhaps some people really are. But I think a lot of the time it's a matter of which religion comes closest to what you believe and what your morals are. Yet, there's no exact match.</p>
<p>And if we really can't fully understand God (or even know whether he exists or not definitely), then no religion can be fully right. They have their reasons, and people choose to believe them based on their own opinions and thoughts, but in the end I don't think any religion can actually say they are right above all the rest.</p>
<p>That said, people with higher intelligence are most likely going to question things, such as religion more. It gets more complicated than that, though. Just because they drop religious activity doesn't mean that they don't have faith in something. They just might not agree with any one religion (or any at all). </p>
<p>Maybe they should also do a "faith and beliefs" study...</p>
<p>The jews people....the jews....explain their "intelligence."</p>
<p>
[quote]
The jews people....the jews....explain their "intelligence."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Higher natural aptitude for mathematics due to brain structure traits and a culture that promotes ethnocentrism and community value systems. </p>
<p>edit: oh sorry, I meant worldwide zionist/communist/homosexual conspiracy</p>
<p>Sheed are you unaware that Judaism is generally considered an ethnic background as much as a religious belief, if not more so?</p>
<p>There is certainly a correlation between level of education and atheism, but that's mostly because many educational methods encourage empirical skepticism.</p>
<p>For example, 93% of the members of the United States' most prestigious science institution reject a personal god.</p>
<p>The main problem is, for educated people, anyone's "faith" is easily refuted by the "faith" of another individual, equally convinced a different religion is true than the first.</p>
<p>"We are not like bugs. Here to be born, reproduce, continue the species, and die. We have a thought process."</p>
<p>It's this type of speciocentrism that makes people feel some sort of arbitrary superiority over the Earth, as if we were somehow the "chosen" species. How arrogant!</p>
<p>Science and evolution shows us that Homo sapiens are just one piece in the eternal chain of natural selection, constantly improving genetically, along with the rest of the world. Our consciousness itself likely came about as a result of natural selection, giving us a heightened sense of importance to our own life, thus assisting in our survival capabilities.</p>
<p>Just because we can contemplate the existence of supernatural entities doesn't make their existence any more or less likely. No one out there has any more or less information on which to base any claim re: the existence of a god. It's absurd to claim that you somehow are "sure" that your religion is correct.</p>
<p>THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER VARIABLES.</p>
<p>SOOSOSOSOSOS MANY. I cannot stress this enough.</p>
<p>I go to a public school. It's 90% atheist/agnostic/free-thinking/apathetic. Why? Well, I live in the liberalest neighborhood of the liberalist city in the country and half of these kids' parents are hippies. So, yeah. Remember: Other variables.</p>
<p>Oh and btw our average SAT/ACT scores are slightly higher than average but not significantly. It's just a normal school.</p>
<p>No doubt about it, there are millions of variables here. But you also have sample sizes that are significantly large enough to make some crude conclusions. While correlation is not tantamount to causation, non-religious attitudes are correlated with higher levels of intelligence, that's a fact.</p>
<p>Yeah, NorthSider i agree. I think it's kind of common sense to say that if you as an individual are pulling away from the norm, you are capable of a certain degree of critical thinking. Whether it's for the right reasons or not, it shows you're capable of independent reasoning. Which (i'd say) at least 50% of America isn't. So yeah, i think diverting away from religion shows there's some degree of intelligence. </p>
<p>(though there are situations where the reverse would be true-- i.e, you live in a place where religion is unheard of and you find some random thing to explain the history of earth, then make millions selling WW_D bracelets, YOU'RE the smart one! heh)</p>
<p>
[quote]
93% of the members of the United States' most prestigious science institution reject a personal god.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>most definitely want a LEGIT source for that....most prestigious science institution...who's opine?</p>
<p>Nature</a>, "Leading scientists still reject God" July 23, 1998</p>
<p>It's the United States National Academy of Science, the foremost advisory board on issues relating to science in the United States.</p>
<p>if i cant use biased websites...neither can you
nahnahnahnahahnahaa</p>
<p>Actually, that wasn't a biased website. Science organizations are perfectly qualified to run scientific experiments, whereas religious ones are not.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stephenjaygould.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.stephenjaygould.org</a></p>
<p>df;onjfklgmhkzflmklgcfnmflkgnd;jgfkljh</p>
<p>biased to me.....nahnahanhahanahnahannn</p>