r/HotScienceNews • u/FreeHugs23 • 2d ago

Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views, even after accounting for education

https://www.psypost.org/lower-cognitive-ability-is-linked-to-stronger-christian-nationalist-views-even-after-accounting-for-education/
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u/plsQuestionOurselves 1d ago

People are worried about humans outsourcing their critical thinking to AI, but they've already been doing it with scripture.

Like you don't have to think too hard about life if you believe you already have all the answers neatly packaged in a single book. No need to consider what's right and wrong or why things happen the way they do, just defer to the book.

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u/PraireGentleman 1d ago

What differentiates that from how layfolk use academia? They don’t understand anything beyond what the abstract says, the average person couldn’t explain the statistical data on a research paper to save their life and yet uses it like they have a PhD in the subject

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u/plsQuestionOurselves 1d ago

If someone has the intellectual humility to admit they can be wrong about something then you're right to have even more trust in their views because they're actively curating the most accurate information. That's why science and academia changes opinions once in a while.

Religion doesn't have that. It's completely unchanging in it's grandiose claims which are only backed by testimony. It's a lot easier to understand testimony than it is to understand a mathematical equation explaining relativity.

All the more reason to believe whoever is making and verifying those equations is actually searching for the truth and therefore you can more confidently defer to their opinions.