> Richard Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Debbi said: [somebody asked] > >>> But what if I don't believe in God? [I think Kneem responded] > >> That means you are above average in intelligence > and education. > > My M.D. and my well-above-average IQ (even after a > > significant closed head injury) disagree with your > > supposition. > Of course, if A implies B that doesn't necessarily > mean that B also > implies A, which means that you don't disprove the > Fool's position. To > disprove it, you'd have to find an atheist who > wasn't above average in > intelligence and education.
Of the 'believers' on this List, I suspect all have an above-average IQ (of course, I think _everyone_ here is above average in the brain category -- else they'd not be brinellers in the first place). Yet I am responding not only to this particular statement, but the totality of Kneem's opinions on 'the religious' (although he does not acknowledge a difference between the thoughtful believer and the unquestioning fanatic -- rather as if I said, "Atheists are a bunch of antisocial, ugly loud-mouths - just look at that Madalyn Murray O'Hair!"). To say that his on-list statements are, without exception, "unfavorable" is an understatement. Nor did I attempt to "disprove" a hypothesis, I merely disagreed with a supposition - or opinion, if you prefer. > Rich, who is pedantic this evening for some reason. Well, _I'm_ feeling a bit snippy myself, but that's probably residual from the GI bug that kept me house-bound earlier this week. :P But you guys managed to have a nicely parsed discussion anyway. ';) Conducting a proper randomly-selected, population-based study would answer the question 'do atheists have higher IQs and a higher level of education than non-atheists?' However the two criteria are somewhat interconnected, in that a person with an IQ of 70, frex, isn't going to be getting a post-doc. Agnostics ought to be included as well, for completeness. FWIW, *all* of my friends - devout believers, indifferent, uncertain, or determinedly atheist - are smart, funny and Just Good Folks. ;) Debbi 'Lake Woebegone, where all the men are handsome, the women are strong, and the children are above average.' (as best I recall, per Garrison Keillor, to round out others' snippets on this) :D __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
