Belief in human evolution makes people better persons

[Audie]

Correlation is not causation. It's statistics 101. Without accounting for ALL affecting factors, and the degree to which they affect an outcome, proclaiming the significance of any one factor on an outcome is meaningless except as support for a bias.

What i said only more words

 

[PureX]

What i said only more words

... And LOTS prettier!

 

[Audie]

... And LOTS prettier!

You are?

 

[Brian2]

Or so says a very large international scale study.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-disbelief-human-evolution-linked-greater.html

Excerpts are quoted below

We see that here is an example of how a scientifically grounded insight into our origins and connections to the rest of humanity and the living world can open our minds and hearts into becoming a better human being.

The study also destroys the claim that somehow belief in evolution is a detriment to our moral character. In fact it is established now that the opposite us true. Disbelief in the scientific understanding of human nature is far more likely to create worse human beings regardless of religious beliefs or ethnicities.

What say others?

Adding the original paper link
APA PsycNet

I would think that linking being a better person with evolution for a start requires an idea of what a better person is, and this can be subjective and cultural.
I would also say that the linking to evolution in particular is subjective and could probably have been just as easily linked to other products of education. IOWs it sounds like statistics gone wrong or as Mark Twain said, "Lies, damned lies and statistics".

 

[sayak83]

I would think that linking being a better person with evolution for a start requires an idea of what a better person is, and this can be subjective and cultural.
I would also say that the linking to evolution in particular is subjective and could probably have been just as easily linked to other products of education. IOWs it sounds like statistics gone wrong or as Mark Twain said, "Lies, damned lies and statistics".

Perhaps you should read the paper and figure out if you disagree with the definitions of "better" used in the paper?
Perhaps you should also read the paper to check if, as the authors have claimed, they have indeed controlled for and accounted for the impact of other factors.

 

[sayak83]

What other factors? In my experience (which is obviously not a random and statistically valid sample), rejection of evolution is associated with residence in the South or Midwest, conservative social and political views, and religiosity. So what did they control for?

I don't doubt the conclusion, but again, that is based on my personal experience. I'd like to see the data.

They looked internationally as well...East Europeans, Middle Eastern Muslims and People in Israel. They controlled for religiosity and conservative views as well. Here is the abstract

The current investigation tested if people’s basic belief in the notion that human beings have developed from other animals (i.e., belief in evolution) can predict human-to-human prejudice and intergroup hostility. Using data from the American General Social Survey and Pew Research Center (Studies 1–4), and from three online samples (Studies 5, 7, 8) we tested this hypothesis across 45 countries, in diverse populations and religious settings, across time, in nationally representative data (N = 60,703), and with more comprehensive measures in online crowdsourced data (N = 2,846). Supporting the hypothesis, low belief in human evolution was associated with higher levels of prejudice, racist attitudes, and support for discriminatory behaviors against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ), Blacks, and immigrants in the United States (Study 1), with higher ingroup biases, prejudicial attitudes toward outgroups, and less support for conflict resolution in samples collected from 19 Eastern European countries (Study 2), 25 Muslim countries (Study 3), and Israel (Study 4). Further, among Americans, lower belief in evolution was associated with greater prejudice and militaristic attitudes toward political outgroups (Study 5). Finally, perceived similarity to animals (a construct distinct from belief in evolution, Study 6) partially mediated the link between belief in evolution and prejudice (Studies 7 and 8), even when controlling for religious beliefs, political views, and other demographic variables, and were also observed for nondominant groups (i.e., religious and racial minorities). Overall, these findings highlight the importance of belief in human evolution as a potentially key individual-difference variable predicting racism and prejudice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

 

[sayak83]

Correlation is not causation. It's statistics 101. Without accounting for ALL affecting factors, and the degree to which they affect an outcome, proclaiming the significance of any one factor on an outcome is meaningless except as support for a bias.

Such a general criticism would be valid for any statistical study will not? Include those that correlate smoking with cancer etc. Can we be more specific?

 

[Revoltingest]

I like that all such research always
proves just how wonderful I am.

 

[Audie]

Or so says a very large international scale study.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-disbelief-human-evolution-linked-greater.html

Excerpts are quoted below




We see that here is an example of how a scientifically grounded insight into our origins and connections to the rest of humanity and the living world can open our minds and hearts into becoming a better human being.

The study also destroys the claim that somehow belief in evolution is a detriment to our moral character. In fact it is established now that the opposite us true. Disbelief in the scientific understanding of human nature is far more likely to create worse human beings regardless of religious beliefs or ethnicities.

What say others?

Adding the original paper link
APA PsycNet

Does the paper say CREATE or is that your
personal opinion of cause and effect

 

[firedragon]

Or so says a very large international scale study.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-disbelief-human-evolution-linked-greater.html

Excerpts are quoted below




We see that here is an example of how a scientifically grounded insight into our origins and connections to the rest of humanity and the living world can open our minds and hearts into becoming a better human being.

The study also destroys the claim that somehow belief in evolution is a detriment to our moral character. In fact it is established now that the opposite us true. Disbelief in the scientific understanding of human nature is far more likely to create worse human beings regardless of religious beliefs or ethnicities.

What say others?

Adding the original paper link
APA PsycNet

Interesting find.

I have not read the full study. Its only 15 dollars so lets see. Must understand if the data is correspondence or causal. But a very interesting study.

 

[Kenny]

Not a single factor. One contributing factor whose effect remains significant after controlling for other factors.

Again, I would disagree.

As one who does not believe that humans are a product of evolution, dictates that we are all from the same family - thus no bias.

However, in my mind, evolution has more of a potential for bias as one people could "evolutionize" quicker than another people group..

 

[F1fan]

I think that identifying any one belief as making someone better or worse is probably overly simplistic. A number of determining factors go into what people believe typically and saying that a single factor is all that matters is well.. silly.

I agree. I have no time to check the study now, but my first thought is that this is a correlation, not a cause and effect. It could suggest that those who tend to accept science over religious dogma are more rational people, thus more thoughtful about their morality, and vise versa.

 

[F1fan]

I have to go work, but I will be curious to see if the theists protest this post and study at face value because of what is implied. The ego can be stung at a subconscious level and is expressed consciously in an automatic response.

 

[metis]

I agree. I have no time to check the study now, but my first thought is that this is a correlation, not a cause and effect. It could suggest that those who tend to accept science over religious dogma are more rational people, thus more thoughtful about their morality, and vise versa.

I do believe that science and religion may well be compatible, especially since the ToE in no way negates any belief in God(s), thus no need for one to choose one over the other.

Unfortunately, I was taught in the church I grew up in that the two were incompatible, thus through my studies in science, whereas it was clear we and Earth & our entire universe have gone through an evolutionary process, I left that church and eventually joined another.

 

[74x12]

Or so says a very large international scale study.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-disbelief-human-evolution-linked-greater.html

Excerpts are quoted below




We see that here is an example of how a scientifically grounded insight into our origins and connections to the rest of humanity and the living world can open our minds and hearts into becoming a better human being.

The study also destroys the claim that somehow belief in evolution is a detriment to our moral character. In fact it is established now that the opposite us true. Disbelief in the scientific understanding of human nature is far more likely to create worse human beings regardless of religious beliefs or ethnicities.

What say others?

Adding the original paper link
APA PsycNet

Pride and thinking you're better than others is not a virtue.

 

[Audie]

Pride and thinking you're better than others is not a virtue.

True enough.
And ask not for whom the bell doth toll

 

[Heyo]

I agree. I have no time to check the study now, but my first thought is that this is a correlation, not a cause and effect. It could suggest that those who tend to accept science over religious dogma are more rational people, thus more thoughtful about their morality, and vise versa.

I'd suggest that living in reality is overall healthier. Cognitive dissonance is stress that leads to further problems.

 

[74x12]

Belief in evolution can encourage racism. The Nazis used it as an excuse for their racism. They really thought they were the most evolved race and that they needed to cleanse the gene pool. Such ideas are certainly not exclusive to Nazis however ...

 

[Audie]

Belief in evolution can encourage racism. The Nazis used it as an excuse for their racism. They really thought they were the most evolved race and that they needed to cleanse the gene pool. Such ideas are certainly not exclusive to Nazis however ...

Belief in religion does lead to denying
life saving health care to children, wars of conquest, hideous torture, slavery, attacks on Jews, kings with " divine right", enabling child
molesters, forced conversions, making anti intellectualism a virtue...
Thats just part of it , for Christianity.
Lets do the Aztecs next?

ETA- It has even led some to believe that " God"
and " evolution" are mutually incompatible, and reduced
them to relying on ignirance or intellectual dishonesty
in trying to " prove" its all a lie.

 

[viole]

Or so says a very large international scale study.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-disbelief-human-evolution-linked-greater.html

Excerpts are quoted below




We see that here is an example of how a scientifically grounded insight into our origins and connections to the rest of humanity and the living world can open our minds and hearts into becoming a better human being.

The study also destroys the claim that somehow belief in evolution is a detriment to our moral character. In fact it is established now that the opposite us true. Disbelief in the scientific understanding of human nature is far more likely to create worse human beings regardless of religious beliefs or ethnicities.

What say others?

Adding the original paper link
APA PsycNet

The critique to that is that what is moral or not, is in the eye of the beholder. People rejecting evolution might consider what you consider “better”, actually. “worse”.

So, in my opinion the result of that is question begging.

Ciao

- viole