Elitism

[Infinitum]

Skipping the fact that IQ as a measure is practically obsolete in real life, let's look at the explanation to why intelligence and non-religiosity goes hand in hand. The answer seems pretty obvious to me, so I don't quite understand the fuss about it.

The thing is, intelligence as we usually talk of it is of the logic-mathematical type. This means people with a higher IQ are better than average at grasping logical or mathematical topics. They also have a tendency to use logic to solve their problems. This means that if these people aren't able to find any sound reasoning for believing in God (or anything else at that matter) they will become atheist or agnostic. As I'm sure we all know there are plenty of problems with mainstream religions, Christianity being the most obvious example. Some other religions, like Judaism, allow for a much more intellectual approach and therefore retain more people who think in logic-mathematical terms. That's all there is to it.

 

[apophenia]

I've noticed I tend to see the elitist attitude as negative, yet I cannot fathom why.

That is the combination of peer group pressure ( unavoidable for a primate derivative ), and the semi-conscious understanding that expressing an elitist attitude is telegraphing your punch.

 

[1137]

I think there's a difference between peer pressure and social conditioning. However those who know me don't think I even slightly hide my elitist side haha.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Very prudent point sir. However, what about the Ashkenazi Jews?
Ashkenazi Jewish intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But then again, 600 years of intellectual training has nothing to do with intelligence level pertaining to a specific area, right?

What about them?

 

[apophenia]

I think there's a difference between peer pressure and social conditioning. However those who know me don't think I even slightly hide my elitist side haha.

Well I certainly didn't think that you hide it. You wear it as a badge of honor. My reply was addressing why you feel negative about it. Better to be a wolf in sheep's clothing than a sheep flashing bling in the moonlight

 

[1137]

Well I certainly didn't think that you hide it. You wear it as a badge of honor. My reply was addressing why you feel negative about it. Better to be a wolf in sheep's clothing than a sheep flashing bling in the moonlight

Haha ah I see.

 

[nash8]

Skipping the fact that IQ as a measure is practically obsolete in real life, let's look at the explanation to why intelligence and non-religiosity goes hand in hand. The answer seems pretty obvious to me, so I don't quite understand the fuss about it.

I wouldn't say that IQ as a measure is obsolete in real life, but I would definitely say that it secondary to things like organization skills, and charisma which don't neccesarily go hand in hand with traditional IQ measures. I wonder if Stephen Hawking is OCD?

The other thing is that traditional IQ tests are skewed heavily towards English speaking people. This may not affect higher IQ scores as English knowledge is mainstream amongst modern scholarly structures, but in the general populations IQ it would play an important role in my opinion.

The thing is, intelligence as we usually talk of it is of the logic-mathematical type. This means people with a higher IQ are better than average at grasping logical or mathematical topics. They also have a tendency to use logic to solve their problems. This means that if these people aren't able to find any sound reasoning for believing in God (or anything else at that matter) they will become atheist or agnostic. As I'm sure we all know there are plenty of problems with mainstream religions, Christianity being the most obvious example. Some other religions, like Judaism, allow for a much more intellectual approach and therefore retain more people who think in logic-mathematical terms. That's all there is to it.

I agree that intelligence as usually related to logical-mathematical type and that is one of the flaws in the rating of intellgience. Social intelligence would be #1 in my book in real life application. As the old sayin goes "It's not what you know, but who you know".

And as far as Christianity vs. Judaism. I would personally see it is the other way around, but I agree that most all mainstream formal religions are pretty much equal in their ignorance. I much prefer the "mystic" traditions of each mainstream religion as an actual representation of what the religion truly is.

What about them?

Ashenkazi Jews compose something a high percentage of scientific award winners, but represent well less than 1% of the total population.

The question is whether they were naturally gifted in logical/mathematical abilities, or was 600 years of only being able to hold jobs in mathematically/logically demanding fields such as banking the reason for their superior intelligence in this area?

And because this particular group of people has generally higher than average intelligence in the areas of math and logic, while showing lower than average visio-spatial intelligence make them elite?

My opinion is that this kind of throws out the whole nature vs. nurture argument. Nature is due to what type of nurture nature has provided. Human beings are only different because they have grown up in different environments, not because they're is anything inherently different between any of us.