Do you believe those who are religious

[Toobluntt]

have lower intelligence, in general because they believe in a God, than non believers/non religious people?

I ask because I saw a comment as such on another thread in AIBU, and it's something I've heard/read before, that some people (obviously non-believers) question the intelligence of those who believe in God, or follow an organised religion.

I am not saying this is what I believe, I'm just genuinely interested to know if this is a commonly held view, or not, and if so, why you think this way.

a religious belief of any sort tends to also relate to better health outcomes.
including a recent study that shows it reduces the effects (somewhat) of dementia.
Religious Involvement, Spirituality, and Medicine: Implications for Clinical Practice - Mayo Clinic Proceedings
so although you might feel smug at the thought that you don't believe in such BS and that you feel superior due to this "rational thinking" the reality is that there is benefits to spirituality in all it's forms.

As much as I hate to admit it, I do find this a difficult question. It's less of a yes and more of a sometimes. I have a tendency to think people who believe anything without questioning it are, well, not less intelligent as such but perhaps lacking in critical thinking. And while my own study has lead me to a solid stance in agnostic atheism, I don't view my cousin, a vicar, as any less intelligent for our differing stances. More knowledgable, too, considering his degree in theology. Neither religion nor atheism were part of our family lives, we learnt the basics from a cultural backdrop of Christianity through school and society, and we made our own minds up by our late teens.

Even then, while I do think people who believe unquestioningly are sometimes lacking in critical thinking, I don't think they're any less intelligent in other areas. Emotional intelligence and understanding of art are two things I find religion tends to affirm, both incredibly valuable skills to have.

The more people I meet from all walks of life, the more my inherent biases are challenged and adapted. Even in this thread! That's what I consider most important in my own life, and it's something I hope to continue improving and growing.

Yes, if I'm brutally honest. All of the very religious people that I've ever known have been very unquestioning of the world around them.

No but on the flip side, I find people who just decide religion is nonsense, you live then die and that’s the end without any though into it to be a bit dim. At least do a bit of research before coming to that conclusion! Also, it amazes me that some people actually do put a bit of thought into it and still come to that conclusion (some Humanists for example). How are they not able to see that there is more to this life/world than we can see?

The smartest person in the uni cohort (top of the class on a very competitive course) was deeply religious. She was incredibly intelligent and had tons of common sense, and a very easy to talk to nature. The total package.

Her belief in God was absolute. I came to realize it came down to how she was raised. Her family was deeply religious and I think it was imprinted on her from childhood.

@mjf981 there is some older research on a genetic component to the belief in God. It’s called the God gene. I’ve not seen any updates on this study.

I don't think people are less intelligent, I believe most have been indoctrinated at a young age by the church in schools and/or their parents. Some get there other ways.

I don't like religious people throwing the word 'heathen' around though, and assume their intelligence / capacity to comprehend others thoughts has been somewhat stilted by the church

Not necessarily intelligence, but I do question the critical thinking of those who truly believe in god.

To me it all seems a bit medieval, but of course each to their own

Spirituality is different to religion.

I think spirituality has many benefits and it’s about the individual finding a purpose in life themselves which is never a bad thing.

Religion is more about being told what that purpose is and how to live. In my opinion it causes more harm than good.

I don’t think religious people are less intelligent, but living life as set out in a religious book, makes them less logical and easier likely to form their own opinions based on experience.

LESS or easier. 😴

There's a member of the congregation at my church who until retirement was the leading specialist in a particular medical niche in the entire world. She's definitely highly intelligent and also believes in God

For me, one of the fascinating things about religion is that people MUCH cleverer than me believe it all. It is so clearly a load of bunkum but people with much better reasoning and education and critical thinking than I have live their lives by it. Makes me wonder. But I can't believe it because it's simply not true. I could no more believe that my brain is a sentient jellyfish.

I think many religious people can be intelligent but a lot of them are also gullible. It can also make some people emotionally weaker as a person. It can foster more fear in them. Then religions in that sense become a form of superstition.

Most of the world’s major religions have a philosophical or contemplative tradition that appeals to the more intellectually inquisitive. Concerns around the very nature of reality, knowledge and truth are central here. There is often an element of wonder or awe in these questions. The average church or mosque attendee might not have much awareness of these century-long discussions, so your post, OP, is hard to answer. Still, their unawareness doesn’t mean they don’t experience the same wonder, awe or worship that ignites the wisdom traditions. For those curious about these traditions, try reading Stephen R. L. Clark, a philosopher of religion.

Generally speaking, no; the belief in God or Gods cannot be proven or disproven. However, I do think people who blindly believe in unscientific nonsense - creationism or the belief that the earth is flat, for example, are.

some of the people I know who attend church and are Christian’s are doctors, police sergeants, head teachers, teachers, CEO’s, accountants all very intelligent people

Yes, this has been my experience too. So, no I dont think this. I also know some incredibly stupid atheists. I dont see it as being unquestioning or stupid as much as people searching for meaning/purpose in a chaotic, unexplained world. I actually thinking considering spirituality and its philosophical tenants is a sign of intelligence rather than just going through life never thinking about anything spiritual at all.

I work for a Christian based charity and the church going ceo and trustees are in the main educated and intelligent people. However some of them are also judgemental, hypocritical, and not very nice people. Very disappointing.

I admire people who have a faith I wish I did. And tbh no one knows for certain if there is a higher deity.

Of course there are many many stupid atheists, as there are from all walks of life.

However, if someone believes in a fictional character, that is a starting point for me of not trusting their judgement.

Being an atheist doesn’t mean they haven’t thought about spirituality. For me it meant thinking about it and deciding it’s not for me.

There have been quite a few studies on this.

"Zuckerman and his colleagues previously conducted a meta-analysis of 63 studies, which found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity.” In other words, religious people tend to be less intelligent than non-religious people on average."

Religiosity does make me wonder about someone's critical thinking. Obviously there's a lot of notable exceptions, though.

I certainly don't think that there's a correlation between ethics and religion.

I think that most people know very little about intelligence and cognition.

We assume we make our decisions using ration and logic, but we evolved as a social species and mostly seek out consensus from others to validate our beliefs.

We are capable of holding conflicting beliefs, and hiding uncomfortable thoughts from ourselves. Good mental health requires us to maintain a high degree of delusional thinking.

I think the most likely scenario is that there is the same spread of intelligence levels in non religious and religious populations..
Of course there will be highly intelligent believers, very unintelligent believers and a whole heap in the middle. And I expect the atheist population looks exactly the same.
On this thread there have been 2 studies shared that show different results!
Intelligent atheists can't understand how intelligent believers get their head round faith. Quite possibly those intelligent believers have spent a lot of time with the same thoughts, I know I have but I still believe
I have never blindly followed anything, nor been indoctrinated. But of course many have.
Similarly in the non believing population there are blind followers of ridiculous theories.
But generally there are just a whole load of people on both sides who never give big questions a moment's thought.

No. I'm very much an atheist myself, but although I find the idea of deities preposterous myself, I know full well that you don't have to be stupid to believe in one. There's plenty of proof of that, since there are and always have been many, many highly intelligent people who believe in gods.

Having said that, I don't think there's any mystery about why many atheists do have a tendency to think religious people are stupid. Believing in and living your life by something for which there is absolutely zero proof, on the basis of nothing more than some stories written down thousands of years ago does seem like a pretty gullible thing to do.

Firstly I don’t assume that everyone who goes to church believes in a god, or even that all priests etc do. I go to church and I don’t believe in any god. I enjoy the historical and cultural aspect and find comfort in buildings where generations of people have gathered in contemplation.
My kids and I were discussing how anyone can have faith the other day - it’s such a weird thing to still exist.
I think there are a significant number of people who go for cultural reasons and don’t allow themselves to question it - they don’t really believe but just chose not to think about it (eg my parents). There are many, many people bought up in particular faiths who simply never question it. I do find it odd that so many people believe something so fantastical.
There are also many people for whom it is a trauma response eg finding faith after a bereavement. I’ve seen this often, and the reverse - loss of faith after thinking ‘how could God be so cruel’.
Then there are people who have been brainwashed and bought up as strictly religious and never question it.
There are those who choose to believe as it’s comforting (I rather envy them).
The ones that baffle me are the clever types who seem to lack critical thinking just in this particular area. I think some of these enjoy their faith as an academic exercise - they like the history/ literature and like to be experts in something arcane.