I am not saying that everyone who believes in God is stupid nor that being an atheist is the sole reserve of intelligence. In general terms however more educated and intelligent people don't believe and amongst the less intelligent and educated there tend to be more believers. (Clearly a huge influence on belief is cultural but the argument here is purely looking at the intellectual impact on belief.)
So, why might this be the case?
- Intelligent people are are more likely to use their intelligence to question the existence of god as an explanation for the unknown.
- They can often see that in other instances, where an explanation for a phenomenon is documented and achieves consensus, it is a natural, rather than a supernatural, phenomenon that explains it.
- Understanding complexity requires intelligence. Intelligent people are therefore better equipped to understand things without the need to attribute a supernatural explanation.
Conversely there are certain traits associated with lower intelligence which lead to a propensity to believe...
The interesting thing though is that whether God actually exists or not, is irrelevant here Whether you are more likely to believe or not believe is not actually influenced by if a God does or doesn't exist. This applies to all factors (intelligence, culture etc).
God either exists or he does not but the belief in him is entirely independent of his actual existence. So, either way, intelligent people are less likely to believe in God since all of the evidence of the natural world points to there not being a God. Conversely less intelligent people are more likely to believe in God for the reasons explained above (not because he actually exists).
- It is easier to ignore the evidence pointing to the lack of a God if you do not understand it.
- If you lack the intelligence to understand complex scientific explanations for natural phenomenon then whatever you believe is a matter of Faith. Clearly if you believe in God then there is Faith in the teachings and scriptures. But without being able to understand them, scientific ideas can likewise be given only a similar level of credulity. For someone that does not understand a scientific explanation, belief in it is as much a matter of faith as belief in God.
- The teachings of religion offer a very simplified view of the world and creation which is far easier to understand, particularly if you are not of high intellect.
The interesting thing though is that whether God actually exists or not, is irrelevant here Whether you are more likely to believe or not believe is not actually influenced by if a God does or doesn't exist. This applies to all factors (intelligence, culture etc).
God either exists or he does not but the belief in him is entirely independent of his actual existence. So, either way, intelligent people are less likely to believe in God since all of the evidence of the natural world points to there not being a God. Conversely less intelligent people are more likely to believe in God for the reasons explained above (not because he actually exists).
Which comes to the crux of my question. What if there actually is a God?
In this case what this means is that God has gone extraordinarily out of his way to create a world in which all the evidence points to his non existence.
There are many that believe in a 6000 year old earth, despite the evidence to the contrary. It beggars belief the complexity of what their God would need to have created in order for it to appear to be 13.77 billion years old. As a simple example every single particle that is travelling in the Universe would have had to be set on it's current path 6000 years ago 'as if' it had started much earlier.
Even if your belief in God allows an acceptance of large amounts of current scientific thinking the EVIDENCE still points universally to the lack of a God.
Which brings us back to the question. If there is a God, and he judges people to some degree on their acceptance of and belief in him, why did he give us different levels of intelligence and then create a world which so universally points to his non-existence? Why has he got it in for the brainy ones?
In this case what this means is that God has gone extraordinarily out of his way to create a world in which all the evidence points to his non existence.
There are many that believe in a 6000 year old earth, despite the evidence to the contrary. It beggars belief the complexity of what their God would need to have created in order for it to appear to be 13.77 billion years old. As a simple example every single particle that is travelling in the Universe would have had to be set on it's current path 6000 years ago 'as if' it had started much earlier.
Even if your belief in God allows an acceptance of large amounts of current scientific thinking the EVIDENCE still points universally to the lack of a God.
Which brings us back to the question. If there is a God, and he judges people to some degree on their acceptance of and belief in him, why did he give us different levels of intelligence and then create a world which so universally points to his non-existence? Why has he got it in for the brainy ones?
