Statistically, atheists have a higher intelligence than people with a strong religious faith. The difference is 5.8 points, according to a new study by the Danish professor of developmental psychology, Helmuth Nyborg.
The study was conducted at Aarhus University using American date from more than 7000 subjects.
The Danish professor is a highly controversial academician who has previously provoked outrage by concluding that White people are generally more intelligent than Black people, and in 2002 that men have a higher average intelligence than women – while there are more men than women with very low intelligence.
Last year the professor was fired from Aarhus university following criticism from a panel of experts who criticised his research, but the verdict was changed to a correction for negligence after both Danish and American researchers argued that he was the victim of a witch hunt because his results were not “politically correct”.
Helmuth Nyborg belongs to that branch of psychologists who believe that intelligence depends more on genetic factors than environment.
The type of intelligence that he measures is the so-called g-factor, which is a measure of the ability of the brain to handle complex information.
Other brain researchers and psychologists say that the brain changes over time, including the intelligence, and some also work with different categories of intelligence, such as social, creative and musical intelligence.
Helmuth Nyborg says that the rankings from intelligence test made by the age of six usually still stands 60 years later regardless of the education the test subjects have achieved. Education does not influence intelligence, but intelligence often determines the length of the education, according to the professor.
Not surprisingly, Helmuth Nyborg has been accused of being a Nazi, at one point over a statement saying that it may become a problem for the average intelligence of future societies that highly intelligent people produce relatively few children.
The professor denies the accusation and says that he was taught from an early age to despise Nazism. He also says he will continue publishing his studies, regardless of controversies.
Is atheism a new leap in evolution or is the concept of "god" a delusion as Dawkins claims? A controversial Danish professor now hints that people with lower intelligence may be attracted to religion.
Mon Feb 5, 2007 4:50 PM EST
http://danish.newsvine.com/_news/2007/02/05/554043-professor-atheists-are-more-intelligent-than-believers |
2008/3/12 11:19
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