what about atheists with someone in their ancestoral line, like a great grandmother, or an uncle who had religious beliefs? is intelligence inherited, or has modern science fooled us?
2007-07-30 03:30:29 · 42 answers · asked by That Guy Drew 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
sorry, but i get a bit tired of being told i'm stupid because i'm christian. i was agnostic for 27 years. i'm no more or less intelligent now than i was then.
and by the way, this isn't really me in the avatar... it's an inside joke...
2007-07-30 03:50:33 · update #1
The religious get their smarts from God, the creator of all there is, master Chemist, Physicist.
Atheists get their smarts from their ancestors. Chimpanzees.
2007-07-30 03:41:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
From what I've read here it's not exactly like a homogenized organization that has a lock on the smarts. Some atheists express themselves quite eloquently and that's an indication of intelligence and others are certainly less so well thought out in their comments. I'd suppose that believing or not believing in a Deity isn't the bell mark of intelligence. A severely mentally challenged individual could be an atheist or a believer as could a genius be a believer or ascribe to any number of scenarios of our existence devoid of the benefit of a higher power. I've always liked the notion that regardless of what we believe let no man stand above another, it seems like the "Human" thing to do.
2007-07-30 03:41:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
*Sigh* You have to be joking. A very prominent atheist (sorry dunno the name) put out a challenge for any religious person who could beat him at an SAT contest he would give them $1000. Some one shortly there after said he would take him up on that offer. That man was Ken Jennings a mormon. So at least one religious person has some brains. Your question is silly none the less. Intelligence as waaaay more to do with how someone is raised, genetics etc then religion. A better question would be weather or not stupid people are more drawn to either side
2007-07-30 03:37:02 · answer #3 · answered by Surger1 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If one reads the questions on R&S, one can see that atheists perceive themselves as more intelligent, but I don't know of studies which show a correlation between intelligence, or a lack thereof, and religious beliefs.
2007-07-30 10:26:09 · answer #4 · answered by Michael B - Prop. 8 Repealed! 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Human intelligence has a gaussian distribution (so-called "bell curve"). This will hold in any large population.
However, intelligent people will be attracted to certain positions in society, since being smart makes it easier to get education and make money. Thus, atheists tend to be more intelligent than theists *today* for the same reason doctors tend to be smarter than plumbers.
2007-07-30 03:49:41 · answer #5 · answered by Minh 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I once had a teacher at my church who was atheist. For some reason he studied the Bible in its entirety. He then became a Christian. It so happened that he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He wasn't smart, but became smart.
2007-07-30 04:39:19 · answer #6 · answered by bob d 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is just like asking "are engineers smarter than doctors?"
You can't compare.
All his life, Einstein was seduced by the ORDER and the laws that govern our universe (from the sub-atomic to ...galaxies..everything). Read his bio. He was convinced there is a greater intelligence that created all this.
Newton was deeply religious -religion was a big part of his life. And that helped inspire and channel his inventions...not detract from them! Again, he was in awe of how the world seems so orderly and is governed by underying rules.
2007-07-30 03:36:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
Only in their own minds. Actually, it is a limited mind that can't seem to be open to even the possibility of God. Yet, atheists think because they don't align with God, something their minds cannont logically comprehend, that they must be smarter than those of us who do. The sad reality is they can't come up with a "logical" orgin of the universe either, because any intellegent person, atheist or not, would have to admit, there is no "logic" based fact explaining the orgin of the universe, so everyone has to have faith in something they can't exactly prove.
2007-07-30 03:37:33 · answer #8 · answered by Scott B 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
It is not a matter of who is smarter, it is a matter of a right belief system! Regrardless whether they realize it or not, some of the greatest minds and thinkers were religious folk, some of the greatest minds and thinkers unfortunately are those who were athiests. It is not according to intelligence praise the LORD, but it is by grace that you are saved through faith and this not of yourselves lest any man should boast.
God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise he chose the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, he chose the beggarly elements to confound the wise, so as it says in scripture, not many wise, not many powerful were chosen but those who believed in His Name did He give the right to become born of God born of Him, filled with the Spirit
2007-07-30 03:37:12 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, one of the smartest single people to ever live, Dr. Isaac Asimov, was atheist and I don't hold a candle to him and never will.
I believe that intelligence is a function of both 'nature' and 'nurture' in that you will have a certain level of cognitive ability based on your genetic makeup and the educational background which ensues as a part of your journey likewise comes in to play.
2007-07-30 03:35:26 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Proverbs 3:7
"Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil."
Modern science is deceiving many, but the spirit of the antichrist will deceive many.
2007-07-30 03:46:46 · answer #11 · answered by Jeancommunicates 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋