Demographics Concerning Atheists/Theists
David Tamang
atheists increases with education level. Could anyone provide me with a
source for such demographics? A breakdown of education level, field of
study, occupation, theistic philosophy (or absence thereof) would be great
as well.
Thanks!
--
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have
to say something.
--- Plato
Alan Wright
I'm reading Michael Shermer's book "Why We Believe" which covers
this sort of thing to some extent. It has loads of references.
I believe your claim about atheism (and agnosticism) is pretty well
supported. It would appear that religious fundamentalism has a high
correlation to stupidity and ignorance. It also has a high correlation
with being from the South, from which you may deduce what you
like. (I'm from the South too, so I can say that.) :-)
Alan
"David Tamang" <silly...@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:G0ql8.285949$pN4.18...@bin8.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com...
Max Phillips
wrote on 2002.03.18 7:45 PM:
[snip]
>> I have heard from several informal sources that the concentration of
>> atheists increases with education level. Could anyone provide me with a
>> source for such demographics? A breakdown of education level, field of
>> study, occupation, theistic philosophy (or absence thereof) would be great
>> as well.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> --
>> Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have
>> to say something.
>> --- Plato
I read an article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN about a year ago on that subject.
If I can find it, I'll share. In this particular article the study reported
did not corelate higher educational level with atheism. Rather it found that
the higher one ascends in academia in "hard science" fields. Mathematical
physicists were at the top of the prestige pyramid, where the highest
concentrations of atheists were found. Lots of caveats, though. One of which
showed relative narrowness in atheists-at-the-top, extremely knowledgeable
about their areas of speciality, relatively little about the humanities.
Several were interviewed about God, and most of them said they rarely
thought about God or theism or atheism, for that matter. Furthermore, they
knew relatively little about God concepts. And many of their statements were
incredibly naive an unlearned in the areas of philosophy of religion and
theology. I do admit to not having a perfect memory, however.
Max, creationist by faith alone, evolutionist by evidence alone.
Richard Uhrich
Max Phillips wrote:
I also recall reading an article in Scientific American about a study
about scientists and religion (personal God who answers prayer,
afterlife), but the conclusion was the higher the scientists'
achievement (member of NAS), the lower the belief rate (around 10%). And
my recollection was that mathematicians were *more* inclined to be
relies than were physicists or biologists. I could be wrong. But I can't
find the reference on-line and threw out the magazine.
Richard
Bill Hudson
> Max Phillips wrote:
[snipped for brevity]
>> I read an article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN about a year ago on that
>> subject. If I can find it, I'll share. In this particular article the
>> study reported did not corelate higher educational level with atheism.
>> Rather it found that the higher one ascends in academia in "hard
>> science" fields. Mathematical physicists were at the top of the
>> prestige pyramid, where the highest concentrations of atheists were
>> found. Lots of caveats, though. One of which showed relative narrowness
>> in atheists-at-the-top, extremely knowledgeable about their areas of
>> speciality, relatively little about the humanities. Several were
>> interviewed about God, and most of them said they rarely thought about
>> God or theism or atheism, for that matter. Furthermore, they knew
>> relatively little about God concepts. And many of their statements were
>> incredibly naive an unlearned in the areas of philosophy of religion
>> and theology. I do admit to not having a perfect memory, however.
>>
>> Max, creationist by faith alone, evolutionist by evidence alone.
>>
>>
>>
> I also recall reading an article in Scientific American about a study
> about scientists and religion (personal God who answers prayer,
> afterlife), but the conclusion was the higher the scientists'
> achievement (member of NAS), the lower the belief rate (around 10%). And
> my recollection was that mathematicians were *more* inclined to be
> relies than were physicists or biologists. I could be wrong. But I can't
> find the reference on-line and threw out the magazine.
>
> Richard
Kenneth Miller in "Finding Darwin's God" states that
athiesm is 'almost universal' among 'top scientists'.
Richard Uhrich
Bill Hudson wrote:
Well, it seemed so among the top professors at Caltech in the early
'60s. Students, too, yet the student YMCA was a big club.
Richard