• April 20, 2024

In Mexico 82% of the population is a believer, mainly from the Catholic Church. This according to figures from National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) , which also indicates that 4% of Mexicans do not follow any religion. However, can being a believer make you less intelligent?

Intelligence is the ability of a person to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, understand complex ideas and learn from experiences; but, how this concept interacts with our religiosity or faith, it is possible that both can not coexist.
 

The more intelligence the less faith

In an investigation published in Personality and Social Psychology Review , it was discovered, after an analysis of more than 63 studies, that there is a negative relationship between religiosity and intelligence.

In accordance with Miron Zuckerman, The leader of the essay, atheism and intellect have something in common: the premise that religious beliefs are irrational, without any scientific basis, impossible to verify and, therefore, unrealistic and attractive for intelligent people. There are three hypotheses that indicate why intelligent people are less religious.

1. Atheism would be an expression of nonconformity. Smart people are less likely to settle for religious orthodoxy.

2. Cognitive habilyties. An intelligent person is not enough, can not accept beliefs that are not subject to empirical examination or logical reasoning.

3.  Their cognitive style, more analytical than intuitive, makes them rebellious to religion.

Intelligence can not replace religion

For Zuckerman, one of the functions of religion is to offer answers to existential questions, and intelligence also offers these answers.

However, there is one of the functions that religion fulfills in which intelligence can not replace it. Religion, in responding to existential questions, alleviates to some extent, the fear of death, and there is no record in research that demonstrates that intelligence provides a similar function.

Video Medicine: Religion vs IQ, The Numbers Don't Look Good (April 2024).