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Would you say that agnostics are likely to be more intelligent than theists or atheists?

waitingforgodo 8 Jan 19
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3

I liked a button someone at an SF convention was wearing: "The less you know, the more you believe." This is consistent with my experience. So I'd say the agnostics and atheists, non-believers both, are smarter than believers.

The prick baited Atheists equating us with our opposite believers..... I would say he is a typical cowardly Agnostic conforming to the xian dictionaries both false definitions of Agnosticism and Atheism..... the vast majority of Atheists here in Agnosticland want to support each other....the smug asshole question above should be deleted with a warning by @Admin

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Not necessarily. I'm agnostic and not really very smart or intelligent. I know guys who are religious and very intelligent. Also depends on the type of intelligence someone might have.

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Not at all, but some sure think they are

2

Absolutely not.

Atheists have more education and are more intelligent than religious people.

2

No I would say that they are just trying to hedge their bets.

2

Speaking here on a personal basis and as a Psychologist as well, I'd say that both Agnostics and Atheists are pretty much on the same intelligence level with each other since they BOTH use their powers of Logic, Reasoning, etc, etc, question things thoroughly, seek evidence and answers where and when ever possible, then sort out facts from fictions in an unbiased, open-minded manner and then make their own decisions for themselves rather than merely following along with somewhat 'blind faith' that which they have told repeatedly is Truth.
Theists, on the other hand, though most often quite intelligent prefer to accept and adhere to, often quite blindly, exactly what they have repeated told is the Truth, the Facts, etc, and must NEVER be questioned.

2

Seems to me , no matter what group you're in , the members of that group always think they know more than anyone outside that group . Saw a recent posting by a religious , belittling agnostics .

I WILL do more than belittle this scummy question....most Atheists and Agnostics here support each other equally.. .... only this creepy question and believers troll us like the false leading question above

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It varies with each person. Belief or lack of belief in a god has nothing to do with how smart you are.

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Define intelligence, first. That is very hard, and there is no single one size fits all answer.

But if you simply mean logical problem solving skills, or good memory, then probably not. If however you mean real working intelligence, such as we use to solve real life problems, every day. Then that probably depends more upon features of character, than brain power alone, such as willingness to work hard at problems, unwillingness to accept second grade answers, being sceptical, etc. Then yes perhaps.

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Nah.

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I believe different kinds of intelligence are dispersed among all kinds of believers and non believers. Since we are non believers, we naturally want to be considered more intelligent than others who believe. Anyone that has read the many posts on this site, can tell that intelligence levels vary significantly among the membership. Intelligence is not the only factor that determines success in life so I think it doesn't matter a fig anyway.

The question immediately reminded me of the racists who have wanted to claim that people of a different race were inherently dumb. That of course repelled me at the beginning.

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Somewhat

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I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the main difference between the three lay not in intelligence, but education/knowledge, and character (intellectual honesty, courage). I think intellectual honesty, courage, and general knowledge (understanding confirmation bias, confounding of variables, repeatability) brought me to agnosticism. But it was specific knowledge of the origins and history of religion, and the errors, absurdities, and inconsistencies of its doctrines which brought me to atheism. So above all else, I'm irreligious. The question of whether there might be a god is moot to me. Don't know and don't care. I think many agnostics either lack in the character and specific knowledge aspects, of the label they claim is simply a matter of semantics and emphasis. I think theists lack in those 2 aspects, plus the general knowledge. That said , I feel it does require a certain baseline of intelligence to grasp the general knowledge aspects. So at the lower ends of the spectrum of intelligence, that's a limiting factor. The rest should be able to be grasped by anyone of average intelligence.

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Intelligent is a hard one to say. More curious? Certainly. More knowledgeable? Definitely.

I think the main factor brain-wise between the two groups brought up is that one isn't afraid to say "I don't know" while the other is scared to death to admit anything other than "because God said so"

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I've posted several studies that seem to indicate that the answer is "yes" as far as theists go.

I disagree with your assumption completely.

@Triphid On reading your response, I reread the question. I somehow missed (probably due to my partial blindness) that "atheists were grouped along with the theists. I corrected my response accordingly.

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Definitely not, and intelligence doesn't got anything to do with being and atheist, agnostic or theist. It's about believing without reason or not.

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Theists and atheists have their beliefs. Theists believe in gods based on blind faith, and atheist do not believe in gods due to facts and evidence. However, nobody knows everything. Therefore, it is scientifically reasonable to keep part of one's mind in a questioning mode.

I know that I have been wrong about things throughout my life, and it is possible that I could be wrong about atheism. Therefore, I keep a corner of my mind open to further research, questioning the facts and evidence that support my atheism, and the possibility of a god who keeps himself or herself hidden for some purpose.

So, yes, I would say that some degree of agnosticism is quite intelligent and scientifically required.

Since when has " Not believing" been classified as "believing?

@Triphid Thanks for the correction. 🙂

1

No ... just somewhere inbetween 😉

Varn Level 8 Jan 19, 2021
1

No

1of5 Level 8 Jan 19, 2021
1

What is the premise based on? What about being agnostic implies a higher intelligence than the general population?

@DangerDave How does that argument relate to atheism?

@DangerDave I don't see the word "gnostic" in either the OP or my question so I'm not talking about gnostic atheism, I'm talking about atheism. So please answer with that in mind.

But FTR, I don't agree with the claim that gnostic atheism is an "ideology", it's the rejection of an idea of which there is nothing to support has any validity.

@DangerDave What facts about the existence of a god are being disregarded? That's a pointless claim. It's no different than saying "a symptom of gnosticism is a disregard of other people's imaginative ideas".

Since I've always believed that the argument that agnostic atheists have some burden of proof is nothing but symantec BS trying to placate theists, I guess we'll just disagree.

@DangerDave I also notice that you've ignored my request to reference "atheism" as opposed to "agnostic atheism", so should I assume your argument doesn't work in relation to atheists?

@DangerDave You neglected to list the "facts" you reference and I asked for. Is there a reason for that?

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

― Christopher Hitchens

ALL god claims are made without a shred of evidence to support thus there is no reason to supply evidence to reject the idea. Your argument wrt agnostic atheism is nothing but special pleading and a desperate semantic argument.

@DangerDave So you're one of those people who claim that they made the point when they didn't and then make condescending claims about the other person instead of demonstrating your claim to be true? Good to know.

@DangerDave "ample evidence" ? -- nothing more than empirical/anecdotal 😛

The plural of anecdote is not data !

@DangerDave Wow, you really are really a pompous ass. BTW, you're wrong about Hitchens. The FACT (something you've yet to present in any manner whatsoever) is that there is absolutely no credible evidence for a god. Claiming that there might be a god somewhere in the universe is a pathetic argument used by those who want to give theists something. Sending me off on some useless search to find what you think are facts instead of you actually giving said facts that you claim exist is nothing but a pathetically obvious attempt at putting on me the load of demonstrating your fantasies.

When an atheist says there is no god, they are referencing those gods that are said to exist, not some make-believe thing that might exist if they were omniscient and understood all there was to know about the cosmos.

@DangerDave Interesting how you assume I didn't hit the hashtag. I did and just didn't find anything FACTUAL to backup your claims. You do as many who cannot back up their claims, provide a site and pretend it has proof and then falsely claim that it is someone else's fault they didn't find the metaphorical pin in a haystack. This penchant of yours to make assumptions instead of providing facts must be convenient, explains quite a bit. Add that to your apparent belief that people that don't agree with you are experiencing "cognitive dissonance" gives you the undeserved belief that you're smart despite the lack of factual evidence to convince those who don't share your biased assumptions about your intelligence.

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Not necessarily. I've met believers who were wicked smart - people are very good at compartmentalizing their beliefs/knowledge.

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What ever you are you're less intelligent than some kids under age 9 ..... vocabulary is not a weapon words matter to Atheist and Agnostic adult people here

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integrity of mind is a slightly different quality of mind than any of the multiple kinds of intelligence. likely the 2 are related. this issue might be framed with more intelligence. or more thoughtfulness, yet another quality of mind. your 50 minutes are up, that will be 200 bucks. making the ole dough-ray-me, my favorite quality of mind, one i sadly lack.

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