Is religion and IQ negatively correlated?

Question

Here is just one study of many others that say it is so. Do you accept the facts on this. I'm not saying this is the case for all theists , but in all the research I have done on this subject the answers are always the same. Higher religious importance generally means lower IQ
I have many other studys to see if you are interested to see them.
http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/001527.html

Answer 1

You know, I have wondered about that. I'm not sure it's a strict IQ thing, but the more analytical minds I know of don't believe. Only le' cause your high IQ doesn't mean your actually using it. But then why would god give us a brain if he didn't want us to use it?

Answer 2

Are you sugguestion that religion causes lowered IQ? Because the evidence wouldn't support that no matter how strong of a correlation is shown (correlation is not causation people!). Secondly, I'm not convinced of the objectivity of how religious importance was defined, not because I want to disprove the study, but more because I'm a man of logic and statistics.

Even so, if you'll read, America is the outlier, so at least AMERICANS don't have a negative correlation with IQ and religious importance.

And, finally: this is by country. It doesn't chart individuals. Rather, those countries with a high favor towards religion have a lower IQ on average.

The site is a bit dubious about the meaning of the data. I'd like to take a closer look, but I'm a bit drowsy at the moment. Tch: what a cop out. Oh well.

Answer 3

i think you're suitable. Isaac Newton, Johann Kepler, James Clerk Maxwell, Enrico Fermi, Werner von Braun, Carolus Linneus, Michael Faraday, Blaise Pascal, Gottfried Leibnitz, John Dalton, Humphrey Davy, James Joule, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, Sir John Ambrose Fleming, George Washington Carver, Joseph Henry, etc. All Christians, all low IQs, no competence in math or technology...... Your alleged info are exceedingly skewed.

Answer 4

Just because they are negatively correlated that does not mean that they are related. Classic example: There is a direct correlation between ice cream sales and rape. When one goes up or down, so does the other. Does that mean one causes the other? No. Turns out that incidences of rape go up in the summer. Guess what? It's hot in the summer, so ice cream sales go up, as well.

Also, the study you refer us to says nothing about the correlation coefficient or regression, which would indicate whether there is a relationship between the two variables (IQ and religiosity). (Ha! And here I thought that statistcial analysis class was a waste of time).

Also, just as anecdotal evidence: There are 5 members in my family. All of us are quite religious and we have IQ's ranging from 120 to 160. Although, the study did state that in the U.S. kind of broke from their mold.

Answer 5

Don't think so. I am a Christian. I have a high IQ. Have 2 Masters Degrees and work in an industry that demands a high level of intellect. So I am not sure what the author's bias in this study is. He never explains this and also never explains the basic assumptions of the study.

Answer 6

I think you've got it backwards, lower IQ means higher religious importance. It's after a lot a critical thought that most people become atheists. Perhaps religious people are not capable of this.

Answer 7

God said if questioned about this you could lie about your IQ number.

But seriously folks, if agnostiscm and atheism result from decisions reached by people who have been indoctrinated from birth to believe in a god, then wouldn't it be more likely that these were thinking people, rather than otherwise, and whether right or wrong about their conclusions, wouldn't they have more likely come from a higher IQ stratum than those who never questioned what they were taught?

Answer 8

You might want to spend your time on something that is of benefit to others and yourself. PS If it's a must to consider IQ and religion, read up on the beliefs of our past leaders such as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and more. See what they felt and did on religious matters.

Answer 9

I don't think so. In my religion, Kemetic Orthodoxy, most of the people have high IQ's and have some of the most interesting conversations.

Answer 10

Iq of 142 - I m a strong believer of Islam.