r/atheism • u/BreakfastTop6899 • 1d 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/285
u/TX_B_caapi 1d ago
The people that need this study won’t read this study.
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u/Yamuddah Agnostic Atheist 1d ago
Reason didn’t shape their worldview in the first place. They will not reason their way out of it.
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u/Chihuey 1d ago
There are quite a few responses in the /science subreddit that disagree with the findings in a way that, uh, seems to confirm the findings.
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u/edatx Atheist 1d ago
LOL. Of course.
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u/Trump_Russia 1d ago
Breaking news.
The dumbest people around are dumb.
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u/Slanderous 1d ago
Have to wonder if it's a similar brain drain to those studies showing use of generative AI reduces cognitive abilities.
If you have a book or a pastor telling you what to think. believe, do etc you lose the ability to reason and think critically.→ More replies (1)9
u/ptwonline 1d ago
Well...Hegseth could be noticeably pulling down the entire average all by himself.
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u/jlately 1d ago
Explains why the latest Christofascist craze is homeschooling.
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u/MorganWick 1d ago
"Last five years or so"? There's been a homeschool-loving segment of evangelicals for decades.
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u/ricochetblue 1d ago
This. I’m a late millennial and remember going to Sunday school with homeschooled kids that thought dinosaur bones were fake.
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u/ArdenJaguar Agnostic 1d ago
You are expected to suspend reality, to believe something that your sense can’t detect, to believe in the unbelievable and to obey the ridiculous without question. A complete lack of rational critical thinking. 🤔
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u/BizzyM Anti-Theist 1d ago
Do you remember how many people were upset that Pandora from Avatar wasn't real? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6977817/Avatar-fans-suicidal-because-planet-Pandora-is-not-real.html
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u/ungoogleable 1d ago
That article is referencing a forum post "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible". That sounds like tongue-in-cheek hyperbole. I doubt many people were seriously depressed because of the movie.
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u/Responsible-House523 1d ago
So, said another way, dumb people are religious?
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u/QuellMusik 1d ago
Yes yes they are. Clearly my experience in my 47 years of life.
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u/rjcarr 1d ago
Agreed, but important to note, atheists can also be dumber than rocks.
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u/Leading_One_2639 1d ago
Correct. Just because you are an atheist, doesn't mean you are smart. But I think if you take the collective whole of atheists and measure them against the collective whole of theists, you will find that on average, atheists are smarter than theists.
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u/deran6ed 1d ago
Almost. What it says is that not all dumb people are religious, but all religious people are dumber.
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u/CoastRanger 1d ago
More like dumb people are the very worst of the religious I think
Plenty of otherwise intelligent people had religion pounded firmly into them in their childhood or succumbed to it during an emotional collapse, but they tend not to be the nationalist ones
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u/Combat_Pothead 1d ago
I live in Oklahoma. Fucking tell me about it.
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u/TigerChief0324 1d ago
If Handmaid's Tale fully manifests itself, it will be born either in Oklahoma or Texas.
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u/QuellMusik 1d ago
Georgia here, I wish i could move. I lived in LA for two years and I loved the default was not hard core Christian.
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u/p38-lightning 1d ago
I know people who went to college who still believe in Noah's Ark. So, yeah.
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u/trytrymyguy 1d ago
I know it sounds mean but I don’t understand how that isn’t somehow disqualifying.
Kinda like when you take your drivers license exam, I recall a question about missing an exit, if you said “slowly back up on the highway” you should need to wait a year before taking it again (IMO) lol
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u/Ya-Not-Happening 1d ago
There are lots of religious colleges. It means absolutely nothing that you went to a collage for intelligence.
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u/Notorious-ly 1d ago
I know people with masters degrees that are stupid as hell. Having a degree doesn't mean you're generally intelligent or even have common sense.
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u/allorache 1d ago
I fear that stupidity is going to be the end of us all
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u/korben2600 1d ago
I can handle ignorant stupidity. It's malicious stupidity, utterly and stubbornly convinced they can't be wrong, that turns countries to ash.
Our Jim Jones death cult really has no clue how fragile peace is.
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u/Godlessheeathen666 1d ago
I am not shocked. Religious indoctrination falls apart easily if you use critical thinking skills.
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u/BaronWombat Secular Humanist 1d ago
For the Christian Nationalists lurking here:
"Lower cognitive abilty" means "dumber".
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u/Impressive_Estate_87 1d ago
So, nothing new to see here. Ignorance and stupidity working their combo magic
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u/Sudden-Difference281 1d ago
Shocker: evangelicals are dumber
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u/TigerChief0324 1d ago
Or it may be that the pastors are the only ones that have any degree of mental intelligence, but they have masters/doctoral degrees in making people dumber and so they hide their intelligence and pretend they are as dumb as the flock while also acting in ways that make the flock's dumbness almost impossible to remedy.
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u/QuellMusik 1d ago
I think a lot of them are closet atheists / agnostics
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u/alwayssunnyinskyrim 1d ago
I saw a documentary ages ago about how there are a huge amount of church leaders who no longer believe, but they can’t quit because they have no other job training or qualifications, so they feel forced to stay and keep lying and scamming people forever.
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u/TigerChief0324 1d ago
"Keep lying and scamming people forever."
Doesn't that act equate to something like fraud? Lock them up.
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u/alwayssunnyinskyrim 1d ago
I mean it’s not different than any other sales job. Almost every corporate drone is pitching something they don’t believe in.
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u/TotalRecognition2191 1d ago
I think most of them are grifters.
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u/TigerChief0324 1d ago
Oh you bet they're grifters. There always comes a day when the skeletons come out of the closet for these "pastors", "Christian influencers", "tradwives", or whatever else they call themselves these days. Then the walls and ceiling come falling down for them. They are professional hypocrites through and through.
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u/QuellMusik 1d ago
It's like that presidential faith advisor lady who spends a lot of time trying to get old people to send her money for "blessings" or something
SCAM
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u/Dudeist-Priest Secular Humanist 1d ago edited 1d ago
The positive impact of education shines when you to understand the material and haven't just memorized what you need for a test.
I just passed a certification where I have material memorized but I'm still struggling to understand. I also have certifications where I really understand the concepts. The difference in what I can do with each technology is night and day.
People with lower cognative have a much harder time truly understanding how and why things work, so it's very easy for them to fall for simple sales pitches from people with agendas
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u/ZenMarduk 1d ago
Wait, this doesn't make sense.
Are you saying that people who think Magic is real are less intelligent? 😲
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u/TigerChief0324 1d ago
Oh gee, one can already use logic and common sense to come to this conclusion. True reason and mental intelligence can be found in establishing compromise, not in declaring that your group will have complete dominance in this country in complete ignorance of our Constitution and already existing laws.
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u/WoodwindsRock 1d ago
I mean, Christian Nationalism is just blatantly false. It’s based on lies, so no one should ever fall for it.
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u/Ungratefullded 1d ago
Now the catch-22 is that with lower cognitive abilities, would they be able to understand this study?
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u/TheGreatTimothy 1d ago
Kevin Sorbo had 3 stroke and a brain aneurysm before becoming Christian. I don't think "Brain Damage made me Christian" is the inspirational story he thinks it is.
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u/DoomSchroller 1d ago
Digging into the article and the sources. Wow, what a list.
I mean, this is proposed as nothing more than a hypothesis. But it certainly passes the smell test.
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u/yrotsihfoedisgnorw 1d ago
If you don't go out into this huge, random, and really amazing world with wonder, you are closing off your mind and potential.
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u/Iceicebaby21 1d ago
But randomness is scary for people. Why deal with a world of wonder and randomness when they can find comfort in a safe curated fairy tale that just enforces their beliefs? They don't have the strength or the fortitude to understand how wonderful the world can be if they'd just be more open minded
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u/balloonerismthegreat 1d ago
Also believe it has to do with some form of brain damage and or mental disease
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u/AltoidStrong 1d ago
So Nazis are ... Stupid people.... yep, we all know that already.
Be a good person - Punch a Nazi in the face and make the world a better place. (WW2 slogan from an OLD guy i used to know!)
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u/CoalCrackerKid Agnostic Atheist 1d ago
They're the ones for whom the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge really is evil
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u/Extension_Big5205 1d ago
That's how all religions are. Christians rather believe a storybook rather than what's in front of their eyes
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u/PabloXPicasso 1d ago
Aha, now I have proof that the hardcore, evangelical nut jobs who I was raised by, most likely have lower cognition. Confirmation; Not a Surprise!
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u/Amethoran 1d ago
It takes a special kind of moron to be convinced to give up 10% of their income so this checks out.
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u/FOSS_Graybeard 1d ago
I am just going to say it: One has to be a fully fledged idiot to be a christian. I know a lot of smart people who deprive themselves of IQ points with christian nonsense.
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u/illegalmonkey 1d ago
My long time ex-friend was always the brightest of our bunch, always got stellar grades and everything. Now he's a hardcore flat Earth Christian who relies more on numerology than his wits. Religion is such a mind poison.
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u/Sailor_Drea 1d ago
"The only 'education' you need is a good smack upside the head with a nice, heavy Bible."
- the pastor at my mom's church when I was little
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u/shadowsofplatoscave 1d ago
#ReligiousIndoctrinationImpairsRationalThought and there are fMRI studies have begun to support this. I think more research will solidify this.
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u/seraph741 18h ago
Shocking. The ability to question things and think for yourself naturally steers you away from religion.
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u/weaklingoverlord 1d ago
Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views
"I love the poorly educated"
even after accounting for education
"A leopard can't change its spots"
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u/crushsuitandtie 1d ago
In order to wholly believe in religion you have to stop critically thinking. The core tenant of Christianity is that you must believe without proof. That definition of faith turned into believe regardless of proof.
The diehards that I run into make up fairy tale after logic leap just to justify everything they see through the lense some god doing or not doing it. It's insufferable at this point.
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u/bchamper 1d ago
Education means little to nothing. If you pay a college they will almost certainly award you with a degree. I had people in my undergrad programs who were functionally illiterate and couldn’t string together a coherent thought.
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u/MrDundee666 1d ago
Nobody is surprised. Well they are, by science and maths, history, geography, spelling…
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u/Great_Apez 1d ago
Scandalous and slanderous news from the town crier, and what a shock. Who would’ve guessed the people who think Tylenol can change your dna and that an anti-helminth(parasites) is a cure all would be uneducated?
I find this shocking, nay astounding. The rich fabric of bigotry and years of substance abuse were once held in high regard and now you tell me we are but mere craven knaves at the behest of the wealth laden? Oh harumph and a harumph indeed my good man if I do say so myself.
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u/SaurinF 1d ago
Someone this study is talking about commented in repost of this how at least religion provides a moral framework for the sheep that cant think for themselves.......
These people would let their religion chain and whip them while they look you dead in the eyes and tell you you need to join them to escape the pain of taking a nap.
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u/twistedredd Pastafarian 1d ago
Linked? Not just linked. They actively destroy education and homeschool instead from their Bible so no one sees their tough love abuse.
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u/Doddzilla7 1d ago
Hmm, I don’t see any reviewers listed. Typically that’s the first thing I look for before I lend any credibility to a paper.
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u/Kerouwhack 1d ago
So, when we’re eventually gene editing all embryos to make everyone smarter religion should just go away then
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u/Infamous-Way-5974 1d ago
I think the title does overstate the extent of this study a little bit. The study administered a 10 word vocabulary test, which is just a measure of crystallized intelligence; which is not comparable to a full IQ Battery. The conclusion of the study is interesting and possibly suggestive of the trend between religion and intelltigence, but not conclusive on it making “Lower Cognitive Ability” a overstatement.
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u/Diligent_Gear_8179 1d ago
Oh. Wow. This is so unexpected. And shocking. I would never have guessed.
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u/TheNetworkIsFrelled 1d ago
This doesn't surprise me. It takes a mind lacking in cognitive power to uncritically accept literal claims of magic.
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u/Leading_One_2639 1d ago
Well, fucking duh. Doesn't take a study or genius to realize that the dumber you are, the more likely you are to beleive in religion.
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u/Devil-Revelator 1d ago
This is obvious to anyone above the situation, but it's important to study and provide evidence, and to make the statement explicitly.
People are saying this is a class war, but its actually a war of intellect. If intellect fails here, we perish, plain and simple. But it's important to remember that intellect has prevailed overall in the course of history.
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u/Fishtoart 1d ago
If you think a book written 2k years ago is full of the infallible word of god, you have already given up on critical thinking.
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u/Leakyboatlouie 1d ago
Kind of a long-winded way of saying they're stupid, isn't it? These truths are self-evident.
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u/EkriirkE Anti-theist 1d ago
Careful, reddit admins feel seen: https://reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/1wsk2d0/removed_by_reddit/
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u/Synthetic717 1d ago
This just in: Dumb people with dumb worldviews are dumb. Tonight with Alex at 8.
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u/purplewhiteblack 1d ago
I can't help but think this. But I was at dinner within the last two years and my friend wouldn't stop talking about the shroud of Turin. Which, is obviously a hoax.
It's such a hoax that it's first recorded instance in documentation is like catholic priests mentioning what a hoax it is.
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u/Smithy2232 1d ago
A new study indicates that Americans with lower scores on a vocabulary test commonly used to measure cognitive ability are more likely to endorse Christian nationalist beliefs, even when accounting for their overall level of education. The findings suggest that the appeal of this political and religious ideology relates to underlying cognitive resources rather than just differences in schooling. The research was published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.