Why do Intelligent People still Believe in Religion? 12: Using the psychological mechanisms

[11ryan23]

Nicely said and done! I love the banners and signs that you place in your video because they are so strikingly smart. I think that intelligent people still believe in religion, because they want social acceptance, and churches is one of their ways to get it. I've seen intelligent people who joined different churches just to get noticed, of course there is also a thing call FREEMEAL!

[aboyborninjune]

1:35 Sex = Fun

Was that on purpose? :P

[1009541074brb]

studies show that female lives longer than males.

[J95X3RNVY]

@1009541074brb

Studies have shown that men are more likely to be addicted to drugs that'll kill them. (This, of course, is because of the environment in which we live)

[1009541074brb]

@J95X3RNVY men are more likely to take on more dangerous jobs. eg. mining.

[pseudoprodigy]

You believe in Evolution, I believe in Devolution. Like your inability to make a sound argument or how you mock religion for converting people but your just as guilty. how about Agree to Disagree.

[LearnerChess]

Well said. Glad to see you got back on track.

[CivilNL]

Why was there a Vampire: The Masquerade screen-shot in there?

[anubis2814]

@CivilNL I don't remember, I made this video over a year ago.

[CivilNL]

@anubis2814 Wow quick replies, no worries i realized you were talking about escape mechanisms about 2 seconds after i pressed post.

[The3nlightened0ne]

@anubis2814 You'd make a very enchanting philosophy/science teacher!

[anubis2814]

@The3nlightened0ne I think my microbiology students think so.

[iamoptionb]

just because someone believes in god doesnt make them stupid...

[Shavarnarak]

If there where other species what's their motivation for not exterminating a potentially dangerous rival species?

ESPECIALLY one so warlike and prone to xenophobia as humans for that matter! Why wouldn't they just accelerate a huge metallic asteroid to collide with our planet? Or a bunch of them if they thought we might be able to stop one.

[Shavarnarak]

@Shavarnarak

Now it could be that they are NICE aliens. But if they are nice they would give us technology so no one has to starve or die of disease and so we can preserve our planet with clean energy and such.

So likely no aliens are watching us. Because if they where they'd either kill us off or help us. And if they are disinterested instead, well they aren't watching then are they?

[anubis2814]

@Shavarnarak Or because there have been too many interventions in the evolution of species and they all went wrong. We are probably yet to reach our final evolutionary stage before we branch out into the cosmos. It will probably require earth as a whole to get over it's petty differences first, then and only then will we be to the evolutionary point where they can begin contact. Sagan postulated that the nuclear problem may have failed in many species.

[TheEntryCode]

Nitpicking, but "asylum" as a word hasn't been used to refer to a mental facility for more than a hundred years.

[enigmatically]

If you want to help people deconvert then you're absolutely right, you cannot be confrontational and rude with people, you have to be very loving and patient, while bringing up opposing viewpoints without trying to insult or attack their current views. Only if people can start to have a paradigm shift by considering new concepts can they begin to change. Unfortunately it is all too easy to just argue and butt heads, but real change requires more delicacy in one's approach.

[Celephaith]

I am guilty of resorting to insults and ridicule when dealing with fundamentalists. I'm usually much kinder to theists who are open to the idea that they may be wrong, though they have yet to give up on their faith. And that's because I can understand where they're coming from. This world is hard; life is far from easy. So I can forgive anyone who holds onto a fantasy because it makes life a little easier for them. We are only human, afterall, and not all of us can deal with harsh realities.

[kmonster420]

Wow, you are one smart mofo... watched all 12 and was looking for 13. Excellent series!

[PinkProgram]

New mental constructs... that's what I am ^_^

[eydos]

This chapter is wonderful, thanks.

[unassumption]

The prime directive is pretty much the only excuse god has going for him anymore :I

[unseenstrings]

"This series is not meant to give excuses but to help us figure out the problems we as skeptics face so we can hopefully come up with strategies to help free people from their addiction to religion."

When I was religious, it wasn't because I was less intelligent than I am now. The environmental circumstances I was exposed to as an individual merely resulted in me developing a religious perspective. Likewise, I didn't freely choose to be nonreligious. Circumstance formed and shaped my perception

[unseenstrings]

The paradigm shift toddled to and fro for nearly 5 years before the cognitive changes were sufficient for the shift to happen.

[ninjascroll6789]

brollo

[crackerkiller89]

Not less intelligent, less informed. Intelligence really does not have much to do with it because we are all predisposed to believing and following authority anyway. Its the fact that your knowledge increased that you became non-religious right?

[anubis2814]

@crackerkiller89 Yes, my logic skills were just fine, my knowledge was just limited. What I like to call beavis and butthead logic because their logic is actually dead on sometimes they just don't know anything. The more you know, the clearer a picture of reality you will have.

[unseenstrings]

Good point and good question crackerkiller89. The predisposition stems from the herd instinct, or possibly even more basic, following the leader of the pack. Both theoretical tendencies could be traced to our evolutionary past. But, was it knowledge or awareness that resulted in me changing? Are the words synonymous? Seems reading the Bible from cover to cover caused doubt to creep into my mind. Friends and family with lower reading comprehension advised me to ignore my doubts and just believe.

[unseenstrings]

Speaking of family: I realized via "Smitty," my step-dad (a very likable person who died of cancer from prior smoking) that individuals have two "selves" within them. They have a social self, plus a self unrestrained by the herd instinct (non-social self). When he was around a group of Fundies, he conformed. When the two of us were alone, he wasn't a Fundie: He didn't believe in Eternal Damnation and felt individuals "sinned" only because "Satan" created circumstances that trapped them into sin.

[crackerkiller89]

Oh youre right, i completely forgot that people with lower intelligence tend to consider religion more important and are therefore religious. So, i would ilke to retract my earlier statement. I think i might have said intelligence does not have much to do with it, but i should have said that it is not the most important factor of belief. Your comment kind of backs up that statement. And knowledge is the most important in clearing things up Anubis. Thanks. and thank you unseenstrings

[unseenstrings]

crackerkiller89, isn't "intelligence" relative? That is, intelligence test, don't they try to determine specific knowledge the person has acquired or can they test for all possible knowledge? In other words, is it possible for Bayaka of Central Africa to be more intelligent as far as navigating and surviving in the African wild than the average city dweller from the US? And are older people less intelligent than younger people since they cannot acquire new knowledge as easily as the younger?

[crackerkiller89]

Well, yes and no. I do agree with what you said, but IQ tests, the REAL ones, dont test how much you know, but rather how well your brain can operate and recognize patterns. The o nes that ask you what you know, dont test your IQ but rather your knowledge. Did you know college professors on average have an IQ of 132? Thats WAY above average.

[farvision]

I agree 100% with your goals. How do we work to reeducate people away from theism?

[anubis2814]

Unsure yet, I still need to look at all the pieces that form the problem, I have a few ideas which I hope to reveal in the next few months

[farvision]

I understood that from your video, I was just asking the same question rhetorically. I look forward to your thoughts.

[DetectiveCoolnuggets]

@anubis2814 Well thank you for making this video, it is always nice to see other logical thinkers.

[CromDubMonday]

Excellent as always.