Religious people don't understand the world, Study finds

[Real Troll]

independent.co.uk
Religious people understand the world less, study finds
Ben Kentish

Religious people are more likely to have a poorer understanding of the
world and are more likely to believe objects like rocks and paper have
human qualities, scientists say.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki compared believers in God or
the paranormal to people with autism after finding they tend to struggle
to understand the realities of the world around us.

Religious beliefs were linked with a weaker ability to understand
physical and biological phenomenon such as volcanoes, flowers, rocks and
wind without giving them human qualities.

Believers were more likely to think that inanimate objects such as
metal, oil, clothes and paper can think and feel, and agree with
statements such as "Stones sense the cold".

Marjaana Lindeman and Annika Svedholm-Häkkinen, who completed the study,
said: “The more the participants believed in religious or other
paranormal phenomena, the lower their intuitive physics skills,
mechanical and mental rotation abilities, school grades in mathematics
and physics, and knowledge about physical and biological phenomena were…
and the more they regarded inanimate targets as mental phenomena”.

The study defined "mental" as having human characteristics such as
thoughts and sprit.

What marriage would be like if we followed the bible

Researchers said their findings suggest people’s lack of understanding
about the physical world means they apply their own, human
characteristics to the whole universe, “resulting in belief in demons,
gods, and other supernatural phenomena”.

This confusion between mental and physical qualities “has [also] been
recognised mainly among ancient people and small children”, they added.
World's most popular religions

The scientists compared religious believers to people with autism,
saying both struggle to distinguish between the mental and the physical,
although autistic people are at the opposite end of the spectrum because
they often see the world as entirely physical and struggle to understand
the mental state of others.

Ms Lindeman and Ms Svedholm-Häkkinen asked 258 Finnish people to report
how much they agreed that “there exists an all-powerful, all-knowing,
loving God” and whether they believed in paranormal phenomena such as
telepathy and visions of the future. They then matched their answers
with a range of other factors, including exam results, survey answers
and performances on different tests.

They also found that people who believe in God and the paranormal are
more likely to be women and tend to base their actions on instinct
rather than analytical thinking.

Previous studies have suggested religious people tend to have a lower IQ
and are more likely to believe literally in what scientists called
“bullshit statements” including phrases like “Earth wants water” and
“Force knows its direction”. However, they are also found to be happier
and have greater life satisfaction than non-believers and are seen as
more generous and trustworthy.

<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/religious-people-understand-world-less-study-shows-a7378896.html>

[Cholo Lennon]

+1

Sadly, we have two of them here (ruining this newsgroup by the way).
They are in my kill file, but people keep responding them so I still
have to see (not read) their nonsense/OT ideas.


--
Cholo Lennon
Bs.As.
ARG