Who are more competent: priests or scientists?

Question

(a) Among priests who preach the Bible what percentage of priests actually read the Bible?

(b) Among scientists, who preach relativity what percentage of scientists actally read the textbook?

Answer 1

I'm sure both professions share equally competent people.

Answer 2

I would think that all physics profs have read the relativity textbook, hell all physics students have read it. As for priests forget the bible, I'd like to know what percentage of "holy" people have read all the other "holy" books (ie. Koran, Torah, Bible etc.). I don't think that you should preach until you've heard all the other viewpoints, actually I think this applies to anyone who says that they're religious. If you haven't read all the other books how do you know you've made the right choice (not that any of them are the right choice).

Answer 3

Of course you are comparing apples to oranges here:

I'm guessing the percentages are very nearly 100% for both. You can't be ordained or be a scientist without a lot of reading.

Now what the two fields have in common is that there are a lot of folks who spout nonsense without reading the sources. Not priests nor scientists, but laypeople who think they know more than they do.

Answer 4

They are equally competent at different things. However, you are correct in your suggestion that many people claim to be competent without knowing the source material.

Priests have the distinct advantage of having a smaller library of sources. In both fields, it is common and expected to cite your source, so it's hard to sound credible without reading it.

Answer 5

Priests: 78.9%
Scientists: 98.9%

Really. :)

Dr. H