Do atheists think they are smarter than theists?

Question

because they suppose that everything linked to the "other side" is fake or made up.. i.e. all religions, spiritual experiences, psychics, claivoyants, near death experiences, visions, astral projection, jesus, buddha, etc..

this 80% or so of the worlds population that believe in something beyond the mortal realm - they are all fools who have been deceived by their own minds?

80% is a rough figure, when you consider there are 2 billion christians, 1 billion muslims, 1 billion hindus, and more or less another 500 million of various faiths, adds up to about 70-80% of the worlds population. In any case, its a majority figure

Answer 1

Some atheists think they are smarter than some theists (and some of them would be correct). But all atheists don't think they are smarter than all theists. They would also be correct.

("Smarts" don't come from religous convictions ... they are unrelated.)

Answer 2

Intelligence has nothing to do with what you choose to believe. Believing in a certain idea (no matter how inconceivable to some) doesn't automatically mean you're an idiot. You can be a logical peson who believes in science but also believes in a higher power. One doesn't have to cancel out the other.

As we've all seen on here, there are Atheists that think they are smarter than theists and vice versa. It's really a two way street. Anyone who has to put down other people's intelligence because they don't happen to agree with them isn't very smart. Being smart doesn't just consist of memorizing facts and being able to recall them, it's also about gathering information and making your own educated choice but keeping an open mind to other points of views and having the courage to admit that you might very well be wrong. Hey, it happens. We've all been wrong at some point.

Intolerance is deeply rooted in ignorance. I don't care if the so called smartie is a member of Mensa. If you can't live without putting others down to make yourself feel smarter or superior, your intelligence automatically decreases.

Answer 3

The question, as answered by this agnostic, is not really one of intelligence, but of reason. I do have faith. But my faith is based on science, upon things that I can rationally observe, and that all of us can objectively see.
I consider myself smart, yes. I also know many in the religious community who are much smarter than I.
I have had feelings that can only be described as spiritual - a phenomenon in which I obtain knowledge through a non-rational process.
I suspect most people have had spiritual feelings at some point in their lives. It is not a mental deception. But I have not taken it as proof that, for example, Jesus loves me.
The error, I feel is when people take those feelings and do the following: 1. They make the recurrence of that feeling the goal of their existence (and often to spread the word so others can feel it too). 2. They presume that this feeling can be comprehended, and to explain it, they use words and language that make them seem a little nutty. Our words and language are only really effective at describing the objective world.

This is quite different from asserting, as many religious people do, that they "know" that the universe is less than 6,000 years old or that Jesus rose (and raised people from) the dead, or that the bush could burn without being consumed. These claims cannot be verified by my code of faith, science.
It is not delusional or less intelligent to believe in these things, but it is a bit foolish to try to apply objective or rational principles to explain them.

Answer 4

According to a study by Paul Bell, published in the Mensa Magazine in 2002, there is an inverse correlation between religiosity and intelligence. Analyzing 43 studies carried out since 1927, Bell finds that all but four reported such a connection, and concludes that "the higher one's intelligence or education level, the less one is likely to be religious or hold 'beliefs' of any kind.

Answer 5

Argument from Popularity

Definition

Argument from Popularity (formally, argumentum ad populam) is an informal logical fallacy where an individual claims that a proposition is true because it is or has been widely believed. In its most general form, the argument is generally presented as follows.

1. P is believed by millions of people worldwide
2. Therefore, P

It is a fallacy because millions or billions of people can still believe in something that is wrong.

Examples

There are two closely related forms of the argument from popularity.

Example 1:

Antagonist: "Millions of people worldwide believe in fairies. Obviously, fairies do exist!"

Example 2:

Antagonist: "People have believed in fairies for thousands of years. Obviously, fairies do exist!"


In either case, the mere fact that people have believed in something (even for a long time) does not make it true; people can be deceived. Part of the scientific process, or scholarship more broadly, is to find out things that we previously believed to be true that are not.

Exceptions to the Rule

In some cases, appeal to popularity may be legitimate as a source of evidence supporting particular kinds of questions. In particular, questions of taste and esthetics are notoriously difficult to study "objectively," but surveys can provide information about broad demographic opinions. For example, the following argument, although technically an appeal to popularity, is rational and appropriate.

Antagonist: "J.K. Rowling is a terrible author, with nothing at all to recommend her!"
Protagonist: "I don't know about that; her books are tremendously popular. Obviously a lot of people consider her to be worth reading. She must have something going for her, even if you don't see it."

Answer 6

I am christian and think that 80% of that is made up myself. I consider myself intelligent and also look at the scientific facts as well. I have been given a brain and read and come to conclusions myself, as there are individuals out there who will try to deceive you.

Answer 7

Theism isn't a matter of IQ. It's not a good indicator regarding whether or not a person will believe that some deity exists.
There's a difference between thinking that someone is deluding themselves with religion, or thinking that someone is simply unintelligent.

Answer 8

And your source for this declare is....? as we communicate, because of the fact the academic device is so anti-faith, too many people who get lots of training (and for this reason score larger on IQ try) have been indoctrinated against faith. they do no longer seem to be necassarily smarter than theist, merely brainwashed against faith. As for watching "smartest theist", what approximately human beings like Plato, who formed lots western philosophy and replaced right into a dedicate theist believing there replaced into purely one authentic God, or Thomas Aquinas, who writings on philosophy replaced into influential interior the thinking of maximum of Europe for hundreds of years. Sir Issac Newton who stepped forward calculus and contributed considerable contributions to each component of technology, yet wrote merely as lots approximately his stable non secular faith. Sir Ramsey Clark, inventor of archeology, who as an atheist got down to disprove the background of the Bible and replaced into as a exchange switched over to the Christian faith via the archeology evidence he found for it. CS Lewis, a magnificent instructor and theologian, whose talks on faith (and the books compiled from those talks) have switched over many human beings and effect present day thinking. bypass to the philosophy section a while in a library. you are able to properly be shocked how most of the books there are the classics of western nonetheless, information and subculture come from theist. Sorry, yet you have help for you declare.

Answer 9

wherever do you get the silly notion that atheists thing Buddha is "fake or made up"?

yes, of course I think that atheism is a smarter choice than theism, otherwise I'd be a theist.
but I know there are many aspects of intelligence, it can't be quantified based on one area of thought.

Answer 10

Mwha ha ha ha ha errrrm and partially bald.

What you say may be true. Atheists are a bit scary and seem very aggressive and don't seem to really like Christians. When I go to Atheist party's I always wear my hood just in case they are Internet users.

Answer 11

no they just are ...some of your list are normal natural phenomenum that have just yet to be explained remember the whole world thought that the earth was flat .popular belief is not always the truth ! Remember the salem witch trials they all knew the truth too at the time.by yourself a voodoo doll