Are atheists actually smarter?

Question

So yesterday while looking at the questions in the religion category, I noticed that atheists made far fewer spelling and grammar mistakes than religious people. So, does blind faith lead to the inability to put together a coherent written sentence in one's own language?

Answer 1

I think that you have it backwards. Being smarter makes you an atheist, not vice-versa.

Inability to write coherently is not caused by religious belief, except perhaps indirectly*, but rather, the inability to function properly (write, read, put together a coherent argument,etc.) causes one to rely on religion, which excuses failure, moral and otherwise.

* It is possible that to some extent relying on religious belief causes one to stop trying to better one's self. There's ample evidence for that here.

I get a kick out of the woman below who claims to have a degree in "science". You should have thought harder before trying that line, hon.

Answer 2

English is not my native language, and thats why I make a some mistakes (quite a lot sometimes). If you read the contents of the questions and awnsers, and not foucus oly on the grammar, you'll find some really smart non atheist, some really smart atheist and some really non smart people from all sorts of faith. At least thats what i find here and... well pretty much everywhere

sorry again about the spelling mistakes....

Answer 3

I don't think you should jump to a hasty conclusion on that. Good grammar and spelling are not in themselves proof of greater intelligence. Shows more education, but some educated people are really fools. There are plenty of Christians and other religious people who are capable of using good grammar, and some atheists who do not. Judge them more by what they say than how they express it. Some tend to be prejudiced and think that someone who agrees with them have to be smarter. That is a bit conceited, at best. Also, be aware that some here are not writing in their own native language, so may have not mastered English yet.

One thing I have noticed is that both Christians and Atheists here tend to be rude in their disagreements, and stoop to name-calling. This does not lead me to respect them as people, however intelligent they may really be. They sure make a poor impression. Christians supposedly follow Jesus's teachings of love and "turn the other cheek", while Atheists usually pride themselves on being good, moral people. Often though, neither side presents themselves in a favorable light.

People, please! Can the insults and bickering!

Answer 4

I would say there is a greater likelihood that atheist have attended a institution of higher learning. This is because in a college or university they would have learned the basics of logic and history. Those basics could lead them to question or dismiss organized religion. If they stopped there and didn't consider that organized religion is not the same as belief in god then they could become an atheist.
Believing with absolute faith that God does not exist is not supported by logic because God cannot be disproved. So those who claim logic supports their belief did not get the lesson. They may have attended classes and their written skills may be impressive but their logic is flawed.
Smarter? Doubtful. More educated? In some cases yes but they failed to learn the lesson.

Answer 5

I can give you 2 answers that I think clarify the situation.

1. On a purely individual basis, obviously we have geniuses and dummies on both sides of the religion debate. Point? Don't judge an individual's intelligence by his credo, or lack thereof.

2. On a statistical level:
- "Religiosity," defined in almost any way you wish, is a negative indicator of academic achievement.
- The world's professional scientific community is largely atheistic - yes, even in the U.S. And the higher they are in "ranking," say, in the National Academy of Sciences, the higher the porportion of atheists. (In some of the sciences, e.g., biology, "believers" seem to be an exceedingly small group.)

Answer 6

I have known some incredibly smart people who believed in a deity. One was a physicist interested in cosmology, another a mathematician. Both were quite influential in my life, even though I am an atheist. What I can say, though, is that ignorant people are more likely to pick up their beliefs from their parents and society and there is a huge bias towards believing in a supernatural in our society. Smarter people are more likely to question the accepted answers and try to figure things out for themselves. This frequently leads to atheism.

Answer 7

What I want to see is a comparison between intellectual atheists and people of true faith. Not between atheists and religious people. There is a vast difference between religious people and people of true faith.

I have been in the walls of many churches for over 40 years and I can easily see a big difference between the religious ones and the ones of true faith. By far, the ones of true faith are smarter than the religious ones.

We have to remember we are speaking of three different groups here, not two.

Answer 8

Spelling and grammar mistakes has nothing to do with the ability to thinks. Response for Yahoo Answers comes from around the world. English is not necessarily be their mother's tongue. Spelling and grammar mistakes is common. I am the best example.

Answer 9

No. That is wrong procedure in conducting judgment between atheist and religious mankind. It is not on the spelling of words but the contents of the sentences, the sweetness of the answers. The true meaning of the answers or the sense of the answers.The errors on the christian answers are fruit of carelessness only or typographical error..


You can determine the intelligence of a person through his brain but not through his skin on the head, as you conclude a good book on its contents but not on its cover. Understand? OK?
jtm

Answer 10

They probably are. LOL Actually that check spelling button helps with the hard words. I get real jealous of those that come in here and post all the scientific evidence supporting evolution or whatever theory. I am an English major computer science minor.