Religion Debate

Yeah, but it's true though, isn't it Seeker? ;-)

What's the difference between "Intelligent people are less likely to believe in God" and "People who believe in God are less intelligent"?

 

You're lucky - I can definitely hear your tongue in your cheek..........

 

including the depressingly common mistake of confusing IQ with intelligence...

 

But if you're blinkered enough to think that intelligence is reflected solely in logic, numeracy and literacy........

 

If it were possible to choose, would you choose to have a high IQ, or a lower one?

 

I wouldn't care so long as whatever I had, I was HAPPY.

 

If you were equally happy, etc, then which?

 

Then it's irrelevant.

But, TBH, if I could swap my high-ish IQ for the ability to play music / paint / sculpt, I would.

 

They're skills.
You can learn all of those.

 

You can learn to play notes or slap paint on a canvas but that doesn't make you a musician or a painter.

 

All other things being equal, I would choose the ability to correctly answer more of the narrowly-focussed and culturally biased questions in an IQ test in a time-restricted session.

If it were possible to choose, would you choose to have a measured IQ of 180 or an IQ of 100 and the musical genius of Mozart?

 

IQ of 100 and the musical genius of Mozart

Impossibility.

 

You think IQ is irrelevent? Irrelevent to what? Look what happens to people who have a low score: they end up being duped into believing ancient fairy stories.

I wouldn't swap a high IQ for artisan skills. Bob's beaten me to it re Mozart. The musicians whom I know are conspicuously bright academically.

 

In the context of the question, IQ would be irrelevant if, as you put it, I was happy either way. However, I like being smart but I do know that there are things in life that are more important than being able to know what comes next in a number sequence or what "knife is to....". The amount of snobbery shown by people who know what shape comes next is staggering.

Mind you, I know quite a few people who, whilst they can crimp off a thesis before lunchtime, I wouldn't let wire a plug.

[Passing over the attempt to resurrect the flawed assertion that religious people are somewhat stupid......]

I wasn't talking about artisan skills. I was talking about being an artist. I can learn to make nice things but to be innovative, I'd take that over being academic. But then, it's perhaps a case opf the grass is greener.

What I do know is that being a thinker, it don't 'arf make you miserable thinking about everything.

To answer your last point; I know several musicians too and some are very bright (in an academic sense) and some are less so. They are all as musically gifted as each other even if they'd crash and burn on Mastermind.

 

I know a lot of musicians. Many are also stoners and would probably forget how to spell IQ

 

Sorry, didn't mean to upset you. It's not a question of "knowing" what comes next, it's possessing the, er, intelligence to be able to work it out.

Before we pass over it, can you please point out where the flaw is in that assertion? You didn't answer yesterday.

 

The difference is that even if the first statement may be true (and without knowing what the source data was and where it came from it's difficult to say), it doesn't preclude "intelligent" people from believing. The second statement doesn't allow that provision.

Anyway, the same Telegraph spells out some other concerns with the article you cite:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2124100/High-IQ-linked-to-atheism-claim-attacked.html

 

One for you tho' Devil.

Why is it so important to be considered 'intelligent' or have a high IQ?

 

As you're the only one to mention their own IQ you tell us.

 

Over 100 and not enough to qualify as genius.