Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

I think this will surprise some people, although it doesn't surprise me in the least.

They ares still rating intelligence by measuring IQ only!!!

What a retarded idea !!!!

IQ is a way academics are holding on to their limited power.

What about EQ, RQ and SQ ?

This newspaper is looking for ratings. That's about it

the less you believe , the more you know - end of story.

Who did they use for this study, a bunch of pompous academics?

Isn't the old saying that the more knowledge you gain the more your understand how little you know; these guys obviously know everything and can disprove the existence of god using some back-of-the-envelope calculations.

I'm not surprised, but I am elated!
Science wins again. Religion is nothing more than a meat limitation left over from the Dark Ages. I and millions of others have overcome that limitation, or were born without it as the new and evolved generation.
Yet atheists are the most hated minority in the US.

Atheism is a religion

That is the most idiotic thing I have heard you say, and while I know that you are only misguided and not unintelligent, you have said a lot of stupid things (I do the same thing in the meat world). For the last time before evolution kills you, atheism by definition is the lack of religion. Come on man, use your brain. Don't let 3 billion years of evolution go to waste.

But I still believe in Santa, does that count?

i definitely believe in god... i hope im intelligent?

i just really don't like how people use religion as an excuse (period.-- and) to be ignorant

and by the way, everyone should just ignore soleil... such an ignorant troll...

Amen to that!

Although, intelligence is relative, "intelligent people" may just look at religion as an equation.
When you add all the beliefs on Earth, what do you get?
"This one's right, this one's wrong"
or
An answer that encompasses all or no faiths.

DO THE EVOLUTION

What I take from these data is the new role religion has obtained. It seems to now that religion fills the need for meaning, where none other is available. Despair is a nasty disease, waiting in the depths of poverty and conflict, and religion happens to be the most efficient antidote. In impoverished urban, rural, and undeveloped areas, those who have no hope place their trust in god... and this is a good thing. Reason always is. We mustn't be too zealous in interpreting these data, either. It could imply that a.) disbelievers are more inclined to education, b.) believers are less inclined, c.) disbelief is spreading among the educated, d.) belief is spreading among the uneducated, e.) the affluent are more inclined toward disbelief, or f.) the poor are more inclined to belief. None of these excite me. In fact, this is somewhat depressing. What we must do is alleviate poverty THROUGH education, not villify those unable to attain it. Education is a reliable measure of intelligence, so these findings may very well be accurate. We must observe these surveys in comparison to changes in education levels. Belief is not a bad thing, too often people assume this. What is bad is the dogma so frequently packaged with belief.

Truly intelligent people are those who respect people of all faiths and people of no religion.

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.
(Albert Einstein, Obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955)

Evolution is all around us.

We are made of carbon, water and electricity. The carbon and water stay behind but the elegtricity lives forever in time. - BretByron 6/12/08


What came first, The spark or the Bang?

My god is not religious, but the evolution of things.

duh.
and they are less likely to be conservative too.
stupid fucking smarties.

the very definition of 'faith' is evidence of things unseen. I understand that to be believing in something unprovable, unknowable, and immeasurable. The antithesis of scientific reasoning

They failed to mention how cynical the people are, how negative they are and how they are not happy.

This study is flawed.

Plus I'm sure I can find a study that says the exact opposite....so studies on this topic are not only bias but useless.

This is like stating if you go to a University and graduate you're smarter than those that don't.

And everyone knows that's not true.

Religion is and has always been used to explain the unexplainable. We've learned so much in the past century that we don't need 'God' as much as we used to. This is why we fight over evolution and the big bang. Fanatics are hanging onto religion, while science is allowing us to believe facts and not fiction.

Scientist tend to guide its own thinking towards a predetermined destination.

That's not open minded thinking nor is it along the science way of doing things.

It's like hey I have a study here that says if you eat a lot of greens you'll have a healthy life, while someone else pulls up a study that states that if you eat too many greens your penis falls off. It's all for gain of who is right not what is right.

Be ready for another study coming from England by Sam Harris.

I participated in it. The questions were retarded.

Atheists want to drill this point using phony tests that they have superior intelligence.

Anybody who is smart is usually humble. If they only look at one human cell. They are amazed by its complexity and design.

There is so much to know that most people realize soon or later that they are ignorant.

Amusing stuff. mikefisher makes a good point about the need for religion being eroded, and dco's also posted very good points.

It's true that we can't all agree on what 'intelligence' is and how it should be measured, but, nonetheless, IQ tests are the best, fairest way we have. To write these off as western-biased is simply wrong - East Asians consistently score highest on average.
Moving the goalposts and inventing concepts like 'rhythm intelligence' is just ridiculous. Bouncing a basketball fluently does not make someone bright.

Atheism is a belief system

Communism was a belief system too.

Idiot Savants may be bright in one area and score off the charts in IQ but that doesn't mean they are socially adequate to promote their ideas or express them.

IQ test don't test social skills.

I think a wise man once said at least believe in God as a insurance policy if you are wrong that seems intelligent to me...hahaha...

my IQ is over 130 and I KNOW there is a GOD! "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to act like he didn't exist" The Usual Suspects

Actually Intelligent people more likely to believe in God. Because they can know what is happening behind all physical things.Atheism is a belief for escaping realities.Scientist should research more information about world and they hafta know the science cannot describe everything around us like paranormal activities. There is a point at which everything can't go beyond and of course the science has got a point like that.

Alas - I am a genius!

I usually refuse to talk abour religion becuase it ends up causing one big arguement - but I do agree witth the whole brainwashing thing.

I think people should take time to see their own self-worth and power, rather than devote every waking second of their lives to a being who probably doesn't exist.

like this girl was talking to me at University saying how God stopped her from turning into a 'dirty young women' - I was thinking...hold on, surely it was YOU who stopped yourself from indulging in that behaviour, not God. And then she had the nerve to say other religions, like Buddhism or Hinduism were "all crazy because they worship objects"(<--real quote), which just supported my belief that religion (Christinaity more-so) is all hipocrisy.

I think religion rejects individuality.

Intelligence is an interesting topic in and of itself. Being formerly "intelligent" I understand its limitations. We are told that intelligent people believe in science because it is observable. Easy, but not necessarily reliable. The five senses cannot discern spirituality. Spirituality is not concrete enough for many "intelligent" people. Spiritual existence cannot be proven through laboratory testing. Yet, people who rely on science, not as a general guide, but an absolute are denying themselves an opportunity to understand something that cannot be placed in a test tube. The very fabric of things that most people believe in and live by cannot be proven by science. Belief is not stupid. It is intelligence itself that draws us to belief. Curiosity of the unknown is a strength. It is the very thing that causes scientists themselves to continue striving for a greater understanding.
The fact that religion has become overtly dogmatic should not keep us from searching for the creator that we, in our hearts, know is within us. Many super-intellegent people are scared of the unprovable, and lack the personal strength to rely on belief, intuition, faith, love, and other immeasurable things. In a world short of facts, it is faith that we live by.

Anyone that ever played with paper dolls knows that there has to be someone running the show. Seriously I think it is more a rejection of organized religion, and the bible than a supreme being "God". I find comfort in believing in God because we are spinning around in space without anything holding us up.

"I know that I know nothing" (Latin:scio me nihil scire; scio nescio; Ancient Greek: εν οίδα οτι ουδέν οίδα en oída oti oudén oída.) is a well-known saying which is attributed to the Greek philosopher Socrates.

This argument is really all semantics, change the word intelligent for logical, rational, cerebral, or academic (all of which are admirable qualities) and you get a different picture.

These mental functions are only half the story of what being human amounts to. How many atrocities have been rationalised