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Atheism and the brain (view source)
Revision as of 00:35, October 30, 2015
, 00:35, October 30, 2015→Atheist PZ Myers' blog audience and their reported Asperger's quotient test results
First, people with higher scores on the [[Autism-spectrum quotient|Autism Spectrum Quotient]] (items included "I am fascinated by numbers," and "I find social situations [difficult]") had weaker belief in a personal God. Second, reduced ability to mentalize mediated this correlation. (Mentalizing was measured with the Empathy Quotient, which assesses self-reported ability to recognize and react to others' emotions, and with a task that requires identifying what's being expressed in pictures of eyes. Systematizing -- interest in and aptitude for mechanical and abstract systems -- was correlated with autism but was not a mediator.) Third, men were much less likely than women to say they strongly believed in a personal God (even controlling for autism), and this correlation was also mediated by reduced mentalizing.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hutson/autism-atheism_b_1557098.html Are People With Autism More Likely to Be Atheists?] by Matthew Hutson, Huffington Post</ref>}}
First, people with higher scores on the [[Autism-spectrum quotient|Autism Spectrum Quotient]] (items included "I am fascinated by numbers," and "I find social situations [difficult]") had weaker belief in a personal God. Second, reduced ability to mentalize mediated this correlation. (Mentalizing was measured with the Empathy Quotient, which assesses self-reported ability to recognize and react to others' emotions, and with a task that requires identifying what's being expressed in pictures of eyes. Systematizing -- interest in and aptitude for mechanical and abstract systems -- was correlated with autism but was not a mediator.) Third, men were much less likely than women to say they strongly believed in a personal God (even controlling for autism), and this correlation was also mediated by reduced mentalizing.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hutson/autism-atheism_b_1557098.html Are People With Autism More Likely to Be Atheists?] by Matthew Hutson, Huffington Post</ref>}}
== Causes of autism related to factors which exist in secular societies in the developed world ==
[[File:African open air Christian meeting.jpg|thumbnail|right|320px|Although there have been no formal epidemiological studies, the evidence suggests that autism is rare in Africa and mainly exists within elite families.<ref>[http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/09/14/autism-in-africa/ Autism in Africa?], Jonathan Rabinovitz published in ''Scope'', a publication of [[Stanford University|Stanford]] Medicine, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/11/out-of-africa-a.html Out of Africa and Into Autism: More Evidence Illuminates the Somali Anomaly in Minnesota], By Mark F. Blaxill, AgeofAutism.com website</ref> Africa is a religious continent with high birth rates.
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[[Africa]]n Christians clapping at an open air meeting. In recent years, Christianity has seen a rapid growth in Africa.<ref>[http://gratefultothedead.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/the-african-apostles-how-christianity-exploded-in-20th-century-africa/ The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa]</ref> ]]
In 2011, Jonathan Rabinovitz published in ''Scope'', a publication of [[Stanford University|Stanford]] Medicine: "Autism has sometimes been described as a disease of industrialized high-technology societies."<ref>[http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/09/14/autism-in-africa/ Autism in Africa?], Jonathan Rabinovitz published in ''Scope'', a publication of [[Stanford University|Stanford]] Medicine, 2011</ref> See also: [http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/basics/causes/con-20021148 Causes of Autism - Mayo Clinic].
In 2013, the ''Washington Times'' said about the causes of autism: "The causes of autism are not understood, and recent studies have found associations between childhood autism and multiple births, preterm births, low birthweights, maternal obesity, having a full sibling with autism and having older parents."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/16/rate-of-autism-rises-in-us-hits-plateau-in-uk/?page=all Autism rates rise in U.S., plateau in U.K.]</ref>
Professor [[Eric Kaufmann]] in his book ''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth'' and in some of the his other works points out the religious have higher fertility rates then secular women and that secular women often delay having children until they are older.<ref>''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth'', Eric Kaufmann, 2011, page 280, footnote 13[https://books.google.com/books?id=0wCVCDlo40oC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=eric+kaufmann+fertility+having+children+later&source=bl&ots=5gXqzXhb7O&sig=-LOAWbX1F-sQzmNqdzIQhve31oY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDQQ6AEwA2oVChMIn6PBl-PoyAIVhi8mCh3spgy-#v=onepage&q=eric%20kaufmann%20fertility%20having%20children%20later&f=false]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[Atheism, autism and obesity]]
Although there have been no formal epidemiological studies, the evidence suggests that autism is rare in Africa and mainly exists within elite families.<ref>[http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/09/14/autism-in-africa/ Autism in Africa?], Jonathan Rabinovitz published in ''Scope'', a publication of [[Stanford University|Stanford]] Medicine, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/11/out-of-africa-a.html Out of Africa and Into Autism: More Evidence Illuminates the Somali Anomaly in Minnesota], By Mark F. Blaxill, AgeofAutism.com website</ref> In addition, the traditional [[Africa]]n diet is healthier than many Western World invividuals' diets and Africa has some of the lowest obesity rates in the world.<ref>
*[http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat.html World's fattest countries]
*[http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/030612p26.shtml Traditional African diets are healthier than Western diets], Today's Nutrition</ref> Furthermore, Africa is a religious continent with high birth rates.
=== Atheist PZ Myers' blog audience and their reported Asperger's quotient test results ===
=== Atheist PZ Myers' blog audience and their reported Asperger's quotient test results ===