Atheists Are More Intelligent Because They Override Religious Instinct, Study Claims

A study has revealed a possible explanation for the negative correlation between intelligence and religion. Researchers in the Netherlands and UK are suggesting that perhaps religion is an instinct and being able to overrule religious instincts leads to higher intelligence.

The researchers published a paper in Evolutionary Psychology Science and in it, they suggested an Intelligence-Mismatch Association model. They have argued that religion is an evolved domain, in other words, an instinct. PEOPLE ARE MORE OPEN TO NON-INSTINCTIVE POSSIBILITIES They said that if religion is a domain that has evolved then it is nothing more than an instinct, and intelligence, when it comes to solving problems rationally, is understood as overcoming instinct and being intellectually curious. Therefore people are open to non-instinctive possibilities according to Edward Dutton, the co-author of the Ulster Institute for Social Research over in the UK.

Religion kills peopleCalling All Religions!!! Ancient Hidden Evidence Of Religious Origins The ideas of the researchers have been based on the work of Satoshi Kanazawa, the evolutionary psychologist, and the Savanna-IQ Principles. According to this people have not changed all that much from their ancestors which were savanna-roaming, so the argument suggests that psychology has been strongly influenced by how the first people on Earth dealt with the world.

BIG NEGATIVE ASSOCIATION WITH RELIGION AND INTELLIGENCE An analysis of 63 studies revealed that there was a huge negative association between people and religion and how intelligent they are and this is a trend. On average atheists are said to have more intelligence than those who follow a religion, it is not an indictment of a single person’s ability. There are some religious people who are very clever and there are some atheists who are not considered to be very intelligent. Dutton developed the model with Dimitri Van der Linder, co-author, at the Rotterdam University and they looked at the generic link between intelligence and instinct.

The focus of their study was on instinct along with stress, as it was said that people are usually more instinctive while being showing less rationality at times that are very taxing. Intelligence and rationality were said to help people to deal with being able to act instinctively during such times. STRESS MAKES PEOPLE ACT MORE ON INSTINCT Dutton said that if religion is a domain that has evolved, an instinct, then it is going to be heightened when people are stressed and those people are more likely to act instinctively and there has been some clear evidence of this happening. He went on to say that it means that intelligence gives people the opportunity to be able to pause and reason during situations and consider the possible consequences of any actions that may be taken.

In the problem-solving ability of people, this has consequences that are crucial. Skill is said to be important in how we now live in an environment that has changed. The way that people live now had changed dramatically during the past 11,000 years and behavior that is instinctive may at times be counter-productive according to the researchers. The researchers have called this an evolutionary mismatch, what at one time may have been an advantage for ancestors that used to hunt and gather, may now be bad for people living in today’s world. This is one debate that will continue on as human psychology does a field that is very complex and takes some understanding, along with lots of research.