Do really smart people hold different beliefs?

They tend to vary in their beliefs, same as the rest of us. And most IQ tests only go up to 160…

@MyNewtBoobs “Most tests”? So what? I’m interested in the ones who pass the first one and take the harder ones.

And what makes you so sure they don’t have different beliefs? You just assuming?

What @MyNewtBoobs said.

This one here (yes, I used to just barely make your IQ limit, however due to several injuries my IQ has definitely dropped), is a nihilist (there is no God, there is no purpose, etc.), feels no obligation to be of service unless I can get something out of said service, success has nothing to do with “worthiness” In my eyes (ties in with nihilism), as for partners I think one is plenty (or one too many) from my observations of many couples I’ve gotten to know, hence why I lean towards f*ck buddies or partners without strings.

My brother on the other hand (his IQ is 180) is a strong Christian, is as close to being selfless as anyone I know, I’m not sure on how he sees worthiness based on success but I believe he sees success gives life worth/value, and he definitely is pro monogamy.

I could give you more examples of others I know who meet your criteria, but I feel this is plenty.

Not that I have seen.

Of the people that I know who are incredibly smart, there is a great variation in specific qualities that stand out among all. However, the lack of normality is something that does show. People who are ultra intelligent are not only different in that way. They seem to be more intense about any characteristic they do possess.

I agree with @MyNewtBoobs and @King_Pariah. Belief is about belief and not knowledge and is not necessarily based on empirical evidence, it’s belief. Some people seem to think that believing in god or not believing in god is a measure of intelligence, I don’t happen to agree that that is a measure of intelligence and @King_Pariah gives at least one example. And people who are highly intelligent can believe a variety of things, just like the rest of us, as @MyNewtBoobs points out.

I agree with @athenasgriffin

Lots of diversity yet an intensity in ones particular stronghold (s) that stands out.

I have been told that I am ” in a league of my own ” meant in a positive manner, at least I am assuming. haha

Diversity is, well, diverse. lol

“For instance do they hold different opinions about the existence of God?”

Yes, they are more likely to be atheists (as well as liberals!).

@crisw Perhaps more likely to be atheists and liberals, but for better or worse, as we all know, correlation is correlation, nothing more, nothing less. :-) I’m no defender of the faith, but as I mentioned in my post above, I don’t think a belief in god is an absolute marker one way or the other, for intelligence, though many people do think that. I just happen think those people who do think a belief in god is a marker for intelligence are wrong.

@crisw

Weren’t the average IQs in that study all, essentially, average (hovering around the 100 mark)?

I don’t think that gives us any information about what those at the far end of the IQ scale might believe (or if there’s consistency in those beliefs).

We´ll, I know a few and the ones I personally know up there with their IQ are atheist. My husband can be an unapologetic asshole when face to face with some one of differing belief and seems to write the book on arrogance. Another friend from Mensa is very quiet unless pressed. My father in law could be quite judgemental and condescending. They all have a rather cynical view of the world as well, but they are all different in how they express it. Anecdotal evidence, but that is all I got.

The smarter you are the more you know. The more you know, the more questions you have. The more questions you have, the more answers you get. The existence of God and relevance of religion is one of those questions smart people find the answer to and even smart people will each approach this one differently.

I have also read ( forgot the sources) that the more right brained types tend towards embracing more of the eastern philosophies as they are more big picture oriented.
I am predominantly a right brainer, think Gary Larson is one of the more brilliant people to ever pick up a pencil, lol…and, while my brain has integrated itself more in my middle age, I think true intelligence keeps and open mind, remains open to ALL possibility, and, the hallmark, IMO, is the ability to simply say ” I don’t know.”

Knowledge is power, but, humility is true genius. ;-)

@lillycoyote
@iamthemob

There is a lot more evidence than just the one study I linked to (it was midnight when I wrote that!) Of course correlation does not in and of itself apply causation, but the correlation between high IQ and atheism definitely exists. A few studies-

Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations
“Evidence is reviewed pointing to a negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief in the United States and Europe. It is shown that intelligence measured as psychometric g is negatively related to religious belief. We also examine whether this negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief is present between nations. We find that in a sample of 137 countries the correlation between national IQ and disbelief in God is 0.60.”

Why liberals and atheists are more intelligent
”[There is ] a similarly clear mono- tonic bivariate relationship between adolescent intelligence and adult religiosity. The higher the intelligence of Add Health respondents in junior high and high school, the less religious they grow up to be in their early adulthood. The absolute difference in mean adolescent intelligence between the extreme categories of religiosity is not as great as that between the extreme categories of political ideology. The mean adolescent intelligence of young adults who identify themselves as ‘‘not at all religious’’ is 103.09, while that of those who identify themselves as ‘‘very religious’’ is 97.14. The difference is still statistically very significant (F(3, 14273) 5 78.0381, p \ .00001).”

Religiousness, Spirituality, and IQ: Are They Linked?
” An analysis of variance (ANOVA) comparing the QSAT scores of participants in the four different relationship-to-God categories was significant (F(3,66) = 3.74, p < .02). A Bonferroni post hoc comparison of means indicated that the significant difference was due primarily to religious individuals having lower QSAT scores than atheists.”

Expanding the g-nexus: Further evidence regarding the relations among national IQ, religiosity and national health outcomes
“The current study seeks to better understand how religiosity and health are positioned within the g-nexus. Specifically, the degree to which differences in average IQ across nations is associated with differences in national religiosity (i.e., belief rate) and national health statistics independent of differences in national wealth is examined. Consistent with expectations, results show that, independent of national wealth and belief rate, IQ has a positive influence on national health as indicated by fertility rate, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, and deaths due to HIV/AIDS, and life expectancy. Additionally, as hypothesized, IQ and belief rate interacted to influence reproductive health (i.e., fertility rate, infant- and maternal mortality). Specifically, high IQ acts as a buffer against the negative effects of belief rate; when IQ is high belief rate has no effect, but when IQ is low belief rate has a strong negative effect. The pattern of findings from this study, combined with previous research, serve to confirm that general cognitive ability (i.e., the g-factor) is an important and central node within a larger nexus of psychological and social variables. ”

Leading scientists still reject God
“Our chosen group of “greater” scientists were members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Our survey found near universal rejection of the transcendent by NAS natural scientists. Disbelief in God and immortality among NAS biological scientists was 65.2% and 69.0%, respectively, and among NAS physical scientists it was 79.0% and 76.3%. Most of the rest were agnostics on both issues, with few believers. We found the highest percentage of belief among NAS mathematicians (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). Biological scientists had the lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in immortality), with physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in God, 7.5% in immortality). ”

I find it interesting that the positing of a link between high IQ and atheism raises such ire. I think it’s a pretty tame conclusion, personally, and I don’t see why it would not exist. I don’t see people fussing about a preference for classical music also being linked to high IQ. As some of the studies I linked to point out, there’s a general trend across many behaviors for a link between novelty-seeking or non-normative behavior and higher intelligence.

Yes. I guess everyone’s entitled to it.

Some of the ultra-uber-hyper intelligent people I know (IQs legitimately tested to be on the extreme high end) have some outright bizarre beliefs. Hell, belief in UFOs, Chi, ghosts, and so on are extremely common among Mensa members. I used to be a member of a high IQ society, and a lot of the members were weird as hell in terms of their beliefs.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard

LOL

Well, I don’t believe in anything 100%, but I do enjoy entertaining all manner of possibility.
I think that even if the brightest amongst us only use 10% of their brains potential, who the hell knows WHAT phenomenon we might be blocked from. haha

I kinda like the idea that the ancient Egyptian sun gods were aliens that helped build the Pyramids, and that those us with RH negative blood had alien reptilian ancestors. ;-)

I think half the fun of being relatively bright is the imagination factor. :-D

@Coloma

us only use 10% of their brains potential

Totally false

I think half the fun of being relatively bright is the imagination factor

I can agree with that, though I think there is a fine line between imagination and tardfuckery or lunacy.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard

Interesting!

Yes, there is a fine line!

” Tardfuckery” lolol Very good! :-)

@Coloma Well, that explains the tail and my compulsion to climb up on a warm rock and just lay there on my belly after a heavy meal: I have Rh negative blood.

@crisw I don’t think that anyone’s “ire” was raised by your post; nor did anyone make a fuss. That’s an unfair and untrue characterization of the comments. The responses were pretty tame too, just a counter point and a request for more citations, nothing more than that.

@Coloma

humility is true genius

Spot on.

It seems that traditional religious belief is uncommon as such people are more likely to analyze a religion for inconsistencies, contradictions, etcetera. Accordingly, their religious beliefs are a bit different.

That said, that doesn’t preclude the possibility of a non-traditional interpretation of a conventional religion; Agnosticism and Atheism are not necessarily more common, and I have not seen sufficient evidence to support that hypothesis.

@lillycoyote

I wasn’t necessarily talking about this conversation; the exact same topic has come up both here and elsewhere many times.

@crisw The exact same topic has come up both here and elsewhere ad nauseum.