Why are atheists smarter than believers?

In the course of many years of research, scientists were able to establish a curious relationship: an atheist, as a rule, is more intelligent than a religious person.

It is not clear why this trend persists, but researchers have their own explanation: religion is an instinct, they say, and people who can rise above instincts are smarter than those who rely on them.

"Intelligence in rational problem solving can be understood as involving in overcoming instinct and intellectual curiosity open to non-institutional opportunities," says study lead author Edward Dutton, researcher at the Institute for Social Research at Ulster in the United Kingdom.

Opinion of scientists

In Greece and Rome it was noted that "fools" tend to be religious, while "wise" were often skeptical. Dutton and co-author of his research, Dimitri Van der Linden, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Erasmus of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, write: "Ancient scholars were not the only ones who noticed this association. We analyzed 63 facts and found that religious people are less intelligent than non-religious ones. "

But why is there such a connection? Dutton thinks that this is due to the fact that non-religious people are more rational than religious ones, and thus they understand better that there is no God.

"Most recently, I started to wonder if I was really wrong," Dutton told Live Science. "I have found evidence that the intellect is positively associated with certain kinds of bias."

Interesting experience

For example, a 2012 study published in the journal "Personality and Social Psychology" showed that college students often erroneously give logical answers, but do not realize it. This so-called "blind spot" is traced in the case when people can not detect bias in their own thinking. "In any case, a more pronounced blind spot was associated with a higher cognitive ability," the researchers write in the 2012 review.

The question that was asked to students is interesting: "The bat and the ball cost only $ 1.10. The bat costs $ 1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? ".

"The students suppressed or evaluated the first decision that arose in their head," the researchers write. If they did, they could find the right answer: the ball costs 5 cents, and the bat costs $ 1.05.

"If intelligent people take their own prejudices, it means that they are less rational in some ways," Dutton stated.

The basic Instinct

The "religion-instinct" theory is a modified version of the idea developed by Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics. She did not participate in the new study.

"Kanazawa's theory tries to explain the differences in behavior and the relationship between smart and less intelligent people," states Nathan Kofnas, a lecturer in philosophy at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

The hypothesis is based on two assumptions. Cofnas says: "Firstly, we are psychologically adapted to address the recurring problems that our ancestral hunter-gatherer in the African savannah face. Secondly, the "general intelligence", measured by IQ tests, is developing to help us cope with unresolved problems for which we did not have a developed psychological adaptation. "

"Assumptions imply that smart people should be better than stupid people who deal with situations and entities that their ancestors did not have," said Cofnas.

Philosophical view

"This approach is interesting, but it can be more sustainable if researchers accurately explain what they mean by" religious instinct, "Kofnas also noted.

Dutton and Van der Linden say that if religion has an instinctive basis, then reasonable people can overcome it and become atheists. But without knowing the exact nature of the religious instinct, scientists can not but exclude that atheism, or at least some of its forms, is also based on instinct.

For example, the author Christopher Hitchens considered communism a religion. He was convinced that religious and non-religious movements rely on faith, identifying themselves with the community of believers and fanaticism.

Religion and stress

Researchers also studied the relationship between instinct and stress, stressing that people tend to act in stressful situations based on instincts, for example, referring to religion under some difficult life situations. Researchers argue that intelligence helps people to rise above these instincts during stress.

"If religious faith really is a developed instinctive area, then it will increase during stress, when people tend to act instinctively, and for this there is clear evidence," said Dutton. "It also means that the intellect allows us to reason, proceeding from the situation and the possible consequences of our actions." People who can rise above their instincts are probably better at solving their problems. "

"Suppose someone attacked you. Your instinct was to force a person to hit that person, "says Dutton Live Science. "A smarter person can refrain from such an act, arguing that it is better to solve the problem in accordance with what they want from him."

The research described above was published on May 16 in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.