From: iikkap@mits.mdata.fi (Iikka Paavolainen)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Re: iq<->religion: connection?
Date: 25 Dec 92 16:48:34 GMT
Organization: Microdata Oy, Helsinki, Finland

In article <1992Dec24.234010.20861@u.washington.edu> jeon@carson.u.washington.edu (Sangyong Jeon) writes:
>There is a better explanation of this seeming correlation.
>
>Power. 
>
>(As with all sweeping generalizations, no doubt this generalization
>must fail to explain some events. But I believe it is relevant.)
>
>When one feels that one has the power to understand
>and CHANGE one's environment, that person more than likely will not
>believe (fervently) in some form of deity.

Understanding needs energy and intelligence and will power. Many people
just go with the flow, no matter what the religion (as long as they don't
feel very uncomfortable), and don't bother to inspect anything further.
I myself don't approve of this kind of mediocrity.

>
>It is only because that in the society we live, a Ph.D.  or a rich
>person has (real or imagined) some power that they feel no urgent
>desire to resort to some form of all powerful deities.

IMHO, environment affects more than your wealth.

>
>A Ph.D. or a rich person can become a fundamentalist if s/he
>feels, for whatever reason, powerless and helpless about his/her
>environment. And if somebody less skilled or empowered challenges
>their belief, heaven help him, for the believer will exert all the
>power that s/he does have to quell that blasphemy.

And what gives one power? The attributes I mentioned?

>
>There is one more reason for an already powerful person to become
>an apparently fervent believer. It is when s/he sees in the religion
>an opportunity to expand his/her power. Medieval Inquisition comes to
>mind.

Well that is not real belief in that case.

>
>On the other hand, the poor and under-educated feel they don't have
>much power and choice (whether they actually have some power and
>choice is irrelevant to how they feel) as far as their environment in
>this society is concerned.  Thus, many of them resort to some form of
>all powerful deity that will fulfill their desires for them.

The poor don't have the time or knowledge to get a real grip of their
religion, let alone break free from it.

>
>To the optimists who expressed the hope that the atheist flag would
>fly in the end, I hope you and me are right. But as long as there
>remain people who feel powerless and helpless in a society, I am
>afraid it will remain just that - a hope. Mind you, eradication of
>poverty alone won't eliminate the feeling of powerlessness some feels.
>Even eradication of poverty combined with (good) universal education
>won't do that. In this sense, violence and religion cannot be
>separated. They are just two different manifestations of one human
>desire, the power.

Thus if we eradicate religion we will eradicate much of the violence in
this world.

>Just as education and universal rich won't eliminate the violence in
>society, they won't make the religion obsolete.
>It can only be achieved by changing (at least our perception of) human
>nature.

What people really need is the ability to think with their own minds, not
just mindlessly follow the opinions of the masses, "just because their doing
it too". The amount of people that believe in certain ideas never tells the
correctness or logic of those ideas.

>
>One caution to those who make the connection of brightness and the
>rich.
>
>The connection sounds perilously close to asserting that they
>deserve to be rich because they are smart kids.
>The brightness as much depends on environmental stimuli as it depends
>on the genetic talents.
>Don't you think rich kids show more skill because they generally tend
>to have good care and education from the start, a vicious circle?

Well smart people tend to grab the riches, because they have the means.
But, as I said, I think the environment is more important a factor.

>
>
>jeon
>


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