ANSWERS: 100
  • Yes. But people don't want rationality, they want comfort blankets for their minds.
  • I don't know about that. I've met some pretty stupid atheists. I've also met some pretty stupid religious people. Actually, I'm just going to say that most people are stupid.
  • well, we do operate on logic, not blind trust =)
  • Generally, but to commit to the absolute notion that there is no god can be considered irrational. Agnostics may be the most intelligent and, ironically, it means "without knowledge."
  • on average, i'd say agnostics tend to be more intelligent. and are you referring to atheism as in a belief without a god or the more-so common use that seems to have the same meaning as nihilism?
  • Overall yes but not always.
  • Blind rejection is no better than blind faith. Agnostics are clearly more intelligent than xians or athiests.
  • You know who's really smart? People who don't push their beliefs in God/no God, on me. For those are the chosen, who will not get their asseth kicked by thine foot.
  • Not necessarily more intelligent but probably more honest, fearless and rational thinkers.
  • Im not a fanatic of jesus or god but I dont think they are as smart as they say they are. I know many atheists that are stupid in many things. I also know many religious people that have shoved their religion on other people down their throuts so far that they have caused them not to believe anymore. They are just like people who believe in different things but that doesnt mean they are these geniouses that are better than others for not believing in what they believe in.
  • I don't think so at all. I think they think they're smarter though, and that can get annoying. Agnostics seem the most rationally driven people, some people think that equates to intelligence. Personally I don't find a strong connection between people's beliefs and their intelligence.
  • I'd say yes or at least more open-minded. They are looking at the world as it is, not trying to peek between non-existent planes of reality to look for ghosts and winged helpers. Pragmatic...that's what they are. The are concerned with the here and now, not the later and then (stand with one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow and you're peeing all over today).
  • Perhaps the most intelligent of all are those that subscribe to "Pascal's Wager"...or at least the most pragmatic.
  • Perhaps the most intelligent of all are those that subscribe to "Pascal's Wager"...or at least the most pragmatic.
  • Perhaps the most intelligent of all are those that subscribe to "Pascal's Wager"...or at least the most pragmatic.
  • Haha, I would say they are. lol
  • I am friends with a number of Atheists(I am a Christian myself), and their level of intelligence varies, just as it would with any other person. However, they usually throw insulting remarks my way about how I'm an idiot for believing in a Sky Wizard. Saying such rude things, to a friend, indicates immaturity, not intelligence.
  • Honstly they are the most stupid creature in the whole universe....Because the argement about god existance is the most stubid argument .........
  • I think they just have perspective. I admit that as I have gotten older, I sometimes question the existence too. You just wake up and realize a lot as you get older. The same with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc. I think that some people simply just believe in what they can see, hear, and feel. None of us have actually seen God himself, only what we see on Church walls, books, etc. I don't necessarily think Atheists are more intelligent, I just think they ask the questions that many of us wouldn't ask for fear of being judged by those who do believe. I find religious people to be a lot more judgemental then no-religious people to be honest.
  • Anyone who can observe the wonders of this world and not believe in a creator certainly can not be the brightest flower in the bunch.
  • Yes, I think they "seem" more intelligent, but that's all that it is, an appearance of intelligence. I think it's no secret that athiesm is fairly popular in intellectual circles. It's the political power in circles of thought that they enjoy which makes them seem that way. Maybe when Christianity was what was intellectually in vogue in the universities in the highest circles, this must've made Christians seem uber-smart when you went around repeating those opinions all day. For the most part, people are just parrots repeating what their favorite intellectual is saying these days. Athiesm seems bright because it is newly dominant, appears to be cutting edge, and oh yeah, all the evidence points that way! Eh, so they say, give it a century or so, I bet the religious folks reverse this on them......I think that for all of athiesms cockiness and posturing of themselves, that's all it really is in the end, just posturing and posing. Big names in bright lights to back them up, but still, no substance, more of a historical/political reality most times than a truly intellectual one. Now that being said, I love athiests, and many of them are very bright, but to answer your original question, yes I think they "seem" more intelligent, too bad it's not a reality too!!
  • Statistically there is relatively high correlation between the level of education achieved and the proportion of atheists in the population. So religious faith is negatively correlated with education. If the level of education is correlated with intelligence, and despite intervening social pressures that exclude intelligent working-class children from higher education, it is, then we can conclude that high intelligence and atheism are relatively strongly correlated. If intelligent people seem to be intelligent we can conclude that not only do atheists seem to be more intelligent (on average) than theists they are (on average) actually more intelligent. Of course there is substantial variation in people's intelligence, and so there will be stupid atheists, and intelligent theists, but on average, there will be more stupid theists than stupid atheists.
  • For every actively outed proud Athiest there are probably about 1000 quiet ones just minding their own business you can never know because the intelligent and/or well mannered ones accept that faith and belief is personal and not polite to discuss in public. Many that are "out in the public eye" do appear extremely intelligent, because they are more prepared for logical,rational, open discussions on topics such as cosmology, astronomy, biology, ancient history, archaology and other areas of science/humanities. However, there are also many of them that are just as narrow minded, intolerant and bigotted as any extremist fundamentalist I have met and go out of their way to just verbally bash anyone who believes in God. Not intelligent at all, rather primitive in fact. i.e. Not all athiests are blessed with the art of intelligent communication. My honest opinion. You cannot generalise like that. It depends on the individual. There are many different types of intelligence. For me knowing when to speak and when to just listen is the most important. Me? I am a Deist.
  • I think intelligent people are more likely to think carefully about their beliefs. This can result in them becoming atheists, but not necessarily so: there are plenty of intelligent believers. Less intelligent people are more likely to believe what they are told to believe, i.e. they accept unthinkingly the dominant belief system of their culture. Therefore atheism will be more prevalent amongst the intelligent. But this should not be take to believe that atheism is the intelligent viewpoint: plenty of intelligent people have chosen faith.
  • Impressive big words that you used there John. For such an enlightened person, it is interesting that that you feel compelled to neg people that disagree with your opinion. Sounds like you may not be as secure in your views as you project. Stop drop and roll does not work in hell. If you are wrong in your opinion, eternity is going to be a mighty long time for you.
  • Intelligence is nothing when compared with wisdom and atheism is an utterly unwise worldview based in the deliberate ignoring of reality and human experience. The sweet old woman who helps out in the soup kitchen and goes to Church on Sundays may not be intelligent in the sense that she does not have any fancy degrees or impressive academic credentials but, ultimately, she is right about the most important things in life while an arrogant, self righteous atheist (like a Richard Dawkins) is dead wrong.
  • There is a negative correlation between education and religiosity - it is in the less educated regions that religion seems most prevalent: Congo, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Indonesia, Central Europe, Rural East Asia; and the most educated regions in which religion is least prelevant: Scandinavia, Canada, UK, Australia...And even within countries, those with higher education are religious at much lower rates than those with only basic education. America as a whole is one big exception. Though this is more due to politics, than actual religious devotion; there are many more American atheists than those willing to admit it, due to the stigma attached. . . . The only unintelligent atheists I've met are ones who were raised that as atheists. Every one that I've met, who decided on their own to abandon religion, has been at least more intelligent than average.
  • I do not think so. I have read quite a lot of Atheist/Believer discussions on the web, and quite a few of the 'God dont exist' arguments used by some atheist are about as ridiculous as the 'because the bible say so' argument that God do exist occasionally used by believers. regards JakobA
  • They think they are. They believe in the infallibility of man over the Word of God. Romans 1:21-23: “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” "Modern man with his great wisdom will not worship God as God nor give thanks, so what does he decide to believe in? How does this so-called great modern mind explain the origin of the universe, for example? Oh well there was once this glob of matter floating around. No one really knows where it came from but it was up there floating around, and suddenly there was this big bang. All kinds of stuff flew out everywhere. Eventually millions of years later some of that stuff became the Sun and some of it became Earth. Then after millions and millions of years went by some amino atoms collided and joined together. Eventually after many more years they developed into a single celled life form. Millions of years after that and, bam, that life form had evolved into a higher life form; germs and microorganisms and such. Millions of years later it became a fish swimming in the water. One day, lo and behold, that little ole fish accidentally flopped up on the land. Somehow it must’ve got back into the water before it suffocated but it kind of liked it out there. So after millions of years of this kind of thing happening eventually that fish developed lungs and became a reptile. Millions of years after that and all kinds of complex animals had evolved from that lizard. Eventually one of them evolved into a monkey. And then millions and millions of years later, bam, he became a professor at Harvard." ~Jeffery Smith, Easley, SC, In Reformed Baptist Fellowship
  • They think they are.
  • They are..because I am atheist
  • I just negatived so many answers. lol, and I think I already answered this, but... I just wrote a nice answer to a similar question: People are gradually getting more intelligent. Realizing they can pray all they want and the atrocities the world has seen and the world will see will continue. How can a God let that happen? Essentially, we're evolving from religion into a religion-less era, where people can have faith in themselves and not try to get help from a fictional character.
  • Because they base all their knowledge on science, facts, and reason. They don't use an ancient book to justify everything.
  • I'm an atheist. I am fairly intelligent. But that's neither here nor there. I could be thick. I could be a genius. I'm sure that the distribution of intelligence is fairly broad in atheists as it is in any heterogeneous and large group. There might be a slight skewing towards slightly more intelligent as there is a correlation between increasing levels of education and decreasing levels of theism.
  • They sure seem to want to be assured of that all the time. How many times is this question going to come up in one form or another? Atheists are smarter, right? Atheists are more intelligent? Don't you think atheists are more intelligent? I think Atheists are more intelligent, don't you? Look at the big brain on Atheists, aren't we intelligent? Surveys show that Atheists are more intelligent. What do Christians think about that? Aren't atheists more logical? Aren't atheists more rational? Come on. Give it a rest. Do you really need constant reassurance like that? Don't let the insecurity show.
  • more intelligent than whom? and why would one's religious beliefs have anything to do with it? Maybe you enjoy stereotyping people...
  • They seem to think so.
  • less delusional, more apt to reason and use critical thinking maybe but I don't think intelligence can be measured by one's belief system or lack thereof..obviously there's some smart people that are religious, or religion would not have survived as it has, but one can be very smart and still believe in imaginary things, they just have more intellect to rationalize their delusions with.
  • Some of the brightest minds on this planet are christians. In fact, the most deluded of them are absolutely brilliant in their orwellian methods of trying to validate the illogical. Geniuses and idiots come in all forms and have all kinds of beliefs. I think atheists seem more intelligent on the surface but often the counter-arguments reveal some to be quite stupid even when i agree with the premise. It is true that among intellectual circles that atheists dominate, but there is a danger in taking that to mean tha toverall more atheists are intelligent. During the 1800's , most intellectuals were racist to the core and quite a few were in favor of eugenics. During Freud's time, many intellectuals thought cocaine was a good thing. For me, it is more about the individual. i would no more assume an atheist was more intelligent than anyone else simply because they were atheist.
  • how can they be,they do not belive in anything else.
  • Not only do they "seem" more intelligent, but they actually are more "intelligent" assuming "intelligence" is a survival characteristic. Thinking for oneself is infinitely more satisfying than accepting someone else's delusions.
  • About 6.3% are geniuses and 7.1% are as dumb aa a sack of rocks. Those in the 6.3 grouping would be considered by most to be more intelligent than those in the 7.1 grouping. The 6.3 group range from from a iq of 125 to 147 - those at the top end of the scale are more intelligent that those in the lower range if one accepts the standard testing methods. By the same testing those in the "dumb as a sack of rock" subgroup also include .3 % that may be referred to as idiot savants which could futher confuse the issue. In closing; my reply is I have no idea what the question is.
  • No. Some are very intelligent, but most possess a thin patina of information coupled with little or no wisdom.
  • Seem so? No. Are they? Probably, they don't stake what they hold, to be true on fairy tales. +5
  • No. They're just as smart or dumb as everyone else. Just because you belong to a group doesn't make you smart or dumb. Then there's the question - what kind of intelligence?
  • Impossible to say which is more intelligent. Given that all of them are human I would say you have a pretty equal amount of intelligent ones and ignorant ones on both sides. I consider myself not to one that falls in the "ignorant" lot!
  • Not necessarily. It's just that they're always arguing with devout Christians, who are partially retarded, and sometimes inbred, and so look massively intelligent by comparison.
  • I'm an atheist, and I must say I've met a lot of stupid atheists. It is a matter of statistical fact that there in a correlation between irreligiosity and education, however. And the correlation between education and acceptance of evolution is even stronger, unless the subject in question's alma mater is a Christian Madrasa like Liberty. However, education does not necessarily imply intelligence. On the other hand, "An inverse correlation between religiosity and intelligence has been found by 39 studies carried out between 1927 and 2002, according to an article in Mensa Magazine." -Wikipedia. The lower your IQ, the more likely you are to be religious.
  • i think atheists use their head more than religious people. so what does that tell you?
  • The ones I know are pretty smart.
  • Is this troll bait?
  • ive met some pretty dumb and some very intelligent athiests and some very dum and some very intelligent religious people too
  • I know a lot of unintelligent atheists. I know a lot of unintelligent religious people. I don't think you can classify intelligence by faith (or any other typical grouping). It really just depends on the person.
  • Religious extremists have lost the plot completely and the atheist extremists are completely blind. The result is a violent and cruel world either way!
  • There are thousands of gods I'm not worshipping. What's one more? Honestly.
  • eh,rocky subject is rocky. I think athiests use a bit more logic than religious people who use more faith. But then again..I think alot of people are just idiots,close-minded or not.
  • No. More arrogant generally, but not more intelligent. Now if you want to compare the witty, well-read, cosmopolitan, worldly cynic to the stereotypical Bible beater, of course. But niether are typical of their respective religious classifications. In the US, among the old middle class and the older generation, people are more likely to be evangelical or otherwise very conservative Christians than anything else. Among the new middle class and younger college-grad urban professionals, they're more likely to be atheists, New Age crackposts, Americanized Buddhists, Bahais, extremely liberal Protestants, Theosophists, Existentialists or anything other than conservative Christians. But this is not a matter of level of education (or intelligence) but rather evidence of the effect of secularized education, especially in the education for "soft jobs". But the fact is that most of the people I have ever met, despite advanced education or the lack of it, regardless of religious sentiments and convictions or the rejection of them, the vast majority of the human race have intellects that would embarrass a tree stump. Also, logic and critical reasoning have long been omitted from all public and most private education around the world: the only class of people where I've seen evidence to the contrary are those who attended a good Jewish or Catholic parochial school AND paid attention. (And I'm not Jewish or Catholic. But those Rabbis and Jesuits do teach their students to think and to think rigorously, and exactingly.) I have, however, spent many years studying and working in universities. I have to say that the most brilliant and knowledgable (in both breadth and depth) professors I've ever known have been believing/conservative Christians and Jews - not that I haven't known more than a few brilliant and knowledgable Atheists and Agnostics, but they were very much in the minority.
  • In general, yes. I've not once had an Atheist try to tell me that: someone survived their own death; there was a talking snake; the entire Earth flooded; a man lived in the belly of a great fish for 3 days; they have a personal relationship with an invisible, omnipotent space-daddy; earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteorological events, and other natural disasters are punishments from an invisible, omnipotent space-daddy as a result of human behavior (feminism/homosexuality/insert-sin-of-the-day-here); a seriously evil boogie-man called the devil is trying to steal your soul; the loving space-daddy will punish you for eternity in a firey place...
  • atheists are smart enough to know their going to hell and dumb enough,that do not care.
  • They think they are. That's about as far as it goes in the intelligence department.
  • Most atheists's viewpoint of God is logical, not wishful thinking.
  • 76% of doctors believe in God and so does President Obama.
  • It varies really, I have been friends with a few in my time (As a Jew). Had some interesting conversations...usually started by them oddly. But as soon as they start talking to me like an idiot or treating me like one (Happened more than once) I usually just end the conversation there...because I know I'm at a better place.
  • No, they are just more literal.
  • How intellegent can you be to reject God and get cast into hell?
  • No. They could be smart or dumb or just average; BUT they will all face judgement with the Lord on judgement day and I guess seeing is believing.
  • no some of them are just as dumb as any one else.
  • I don't think they are any more intelligent than people who believe in myths, I think they might be a little more logical but there are plenty of dumb atheists out there just like there's no shortage of dumb believers.
  • We are more rational, if anything.
  • Atheists are just atheists. They are no more rational or intelligent than those who believe. They simply choose not to believe. Anyone who would argue otherwise forgets that some of the most brilliant men in history have been believers in God, including many of the fathers of modern science. There are smart and not-so-smart people on both sides of the fence. To belittle anyone, atheist or not, based on their intelligence or rationality would be arrogant and rude.
  • Since we do not try to back up our arguments with a fictional book, we may seem more intelligent than creationists, who quote mine and make up bullshit statistics when faced with an unanswerable question.
  • Not really, but some spend a lot of time telling you that they are. If a person "is" intelligent they usually don't feel the need to advertise it.
  • Not really, but they are more open minded and this often results in developing a broader base of knowledge.
  • Intelligent?The bible says their foolish in their imagination.
  • Yes. I've never met a religious fanatic who could 'heal' a toaster.
  • No a lot atheists seem just as narrow minded and shallow as many Christians I know. There are intelligent people in both groups, singling one group out as more or less intelligent would be impossible.
  • Certainly to other athiests and to themselves.
  • well, coming from an atheist (me). i have met many dumb atheists, but many many more dumb theists. but i think this is the case only because i've met more theists. if i would have to guess, i would say there is an equal amount of idiots on both sides! (i do think one side is more rational)
  • Most of the smartest people I know are atheists, and I don't think that's a coincidence.
  • Where there is a brillant atheist, there is a brillant apologist. I suspect it doesn't take an intellectual to make a choice.
  • I have met some really stupid athiest. Some of them dropped out of high school and if they made it through they didnt have enough credits to graduate and then gave up. I know athiest and religious people who are very intelligent and some who are very dumb.
  • TO me...They seem more realistic. I know a lot of intellectual theolosians and a lot of intellectually science minded people. Neither of them, in my experience, have simple common sense and one fails horribly without the other.
  • I think there's a tendency for people who define themselves by their greater intelligence (whether or not it be as great they imagine) to be atheists in their youth, by which I mean maybe 14 to 25 or so, and for at least comparatively few truly stupid people to do so. So, kinda... but beyond age 25 or so? No, not really. Most of the intelligent people I know wouldn't assert to you that they know whether or not there's a higher power.
  • Someone says they can walk through a brick wall, religious people are meant to believe him on faith alone and blindly follow him, an atheist says prove it but he doesn't, atheists asked the question and demanded proof, that makes them smarter than any religious person.
  • Not to me.
  • I dont think your belief system really says anything about your intelligence level. We are all drawn to different ones for different reasons, its our own personal preference and choice, that can be influenced by how we're raised where we live and many other factors.
  • It seems to be true just because they are not blinded by their faith.
  • Some are, but some are not. I don't see them as particularly intelligent. Many are simply closed-minded.
  • No. Honestly.
  • More intelligent people tend to be atheists.
  • Only in there own eyes (and that of each other). Psalm 53:1 (NIV) The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
  • Aye.. indeed because of their arrogance.
  • No they just live in the dark.
  • I don't think faith is a condition for inteliigence or vice versa... There are extremely intelligent atheists, just like there are extremely intelligent people of faith. A lot of the fathers of modern science are avowed atheists and there are plenty of people who have faith and intelligent... Honestly, this is a silly question...
  • They think that they are.
  • No. They simply exhibit more of the traits that people traditionally, and erroneously, associate with intelligence.
  • I don't know any atheists, or maybe I do and they're just too smart to tell me! :)

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