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== Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey ==

== Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey]]  

''See also:'' [[Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey]]  

[[File:Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey.png|thumbnail|right|300px|right|Citing data from the [[General Social Survey]] (GSS), [[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] writes: "..the two most common types of atheists are the High Church atheists with +2[[Standard deviation|SD]] [[IQ]]s (128+) and Low Church atheists with -2SD IQs (65-72). Note that the Low Church atheists actually outnumber the High Church atheists, 22.9 to 17.2 percent."<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/01/mailvox-distribution-of-atheist.html Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref> (click on the graph above to enlarge)]]

[[File:Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey.png|thumbnail|right|300px|right|Citing data from the [[General Social Survey]] (GSS), Theodore Beale writes: "..the two most common types of atheists are the High Church atheists with +2[[Standard deviation|SD]] [[IQ]]s (128+) and Low Church atheists with -2SD IQs (65-72). Note that the Low Church atheists actually outnumber the High Church atheists, 22.9 to 17.2 percent."<ref>[https://voxday.net/2014/01/22/mailvox-on-distribution-of-atheis/ Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref> (click on the graph above to enlarge)]]

In the United States, social scientists define [[atheism]] in various ways which makes determining the number of atheists in the United States more difficult to determine.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/01/how-many-americans-are-atheists-fewer-than-you-might-think/ ''How Many Americans are Atheists? Fewer than You Might Think''] by Bradley Wright, January 26, 2012</ref> See also: [[Definition of atheism]] and [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]]

In the United States, social scientists define [[atheism]] in various ways which makes determining the number of atheists in the United States more difficult to determine.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/01/how-many-americans-are-atheists-fewer-than-you-might-think/ ''How Many Americans are Atheists? Fewer than You Might Think''] by Bradley Wright, January 26, 2012</ref> See also: [[Definition of atheism]] and [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]]

*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].  Retrieved July 15, 2014.</ref>  As a result, in reporting their survey results there is some overlap with individuals who some may consider to be merely agnostics.   

*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].  Retrieved July 15, 2014.</ref>  As a result, in reporting their survey results there is some overlap with individuals who some may consider to be merely agnostics.   

Citing data from the General Social Survey, [[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] writes about atheist [[Intelligence testing|intelligence quotient]] (IQ) scores:  

Citing data from the General Social Survey, Theodore Beale writes about atheist [[Intelligence testing|intelligence quotient]] (IQ) scores:  

{{cquote|"..the two most common types of atheists are the High Church atheists with +2[[Standard deviation|SD]] [[IQ]]s (128+) and Low Church atheists with -2SD IQs (65-72). Note that the Low Church atheists actually outnumber the High Church atheists, 22.9 to 17.2 percent...

{{cquote|"..the two most common types of atheists are the High Church atheists with +2[[Standard deviation|SD]] [[IQ]]s (128+) and Low Church atheists with -2SD IQs (65-72). Note that the Low Church atheists actually outnumber the High Church atheists, 22.9 to 17.2 percent...

Now, the statistically naive might look at this chart, note that the +2SD theists only account for 3.5 percent of the theistic population, and assume that this means there are more highly intelligent atheists than highly intelligent theists. This is not the case. As it happens, there are 11.4x more +2SD theists who either know God exists or believe God exists despite having the occasional doubt than there are +2SD atheists who don't believe God exists.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/01/mailvox-distribution-of-atheist.html Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref>}}

Now, the statistically naive might look at this chart, note that the +2SD theists only account for 3.5 percent of the theistic population, and assume that this means there are more highly intelligent atheists than highly intelligent theists. This is not the case. As it happens, there are 11.4x more +2SD theists who either know God exists or believe God exists despite having the occasional doubt than there are +2SD atheists who don't believe God exists.<ref>[https://voxday.net/2014/01/22/mailvox-on-distribution-of-atheis/ Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref>}}

In a 2010 article, Beale writes:

In a 2010 article, Beale writes:

{{cquote|Never forget that the smarter and more knowledgeable act put on by many atheists is inevitably nothing more than that, an act, and one that has absolutely no basis in empirical reality except for a three-point average advantage in IQ which is almost surely a statistical artifact of their insignificant numbers and self-selected identification.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2010/04/always-call-their-bluff.html Always call their bluff]</ref>}}

{{cquote|Never forget that the smarter and more knowledgeable act put on by many atheists is inevitably nothing more than that, an act, and one that has absolutely no basis in empirical reality except for a three-point average advantage in IQ which is almost surely a statistical artifact of their insignificant numbers and self-selected identification.<ref>[https://voxday.net/2010/04/23/always-call-their-bluff/ Always call their bluff]</ref>}}

=== American weak atheism and individuals with low intelligence ===

=== American weak atheism and individuals with low intelligence ===