Comments on: Are most geeks atheists?

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:56:00 +0000

As Richard Dawkins has articulately argued in his books, the idea of God is anything but easy. After all, isn’t an omniscient, omnipresent being capable of creating universes immensely fundamentally complex? Physics and evolution are amazingly elegant, ever-evolving ways of explaining our world logically. Ir you ask me why I’m an atheist, I’d say it’s because I think it’s ludicrous to believe something without evidence. The evidence supporting evolution as the cause of the intensely varied life on our planet is overwhelming, and until the day that there is hard evidence of a creator, I’m going to continue with my present beliefs.

By: Igor

Igor — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:12:53 +0000

Barbara’s story is a comforting piece of rhetoric to trick yourself. Notice how it says nothing that would make existence of a supreme being more likely, but despite that you feel justified in your religious beliefs after reading it.

Geeks love logic. And, once looked at logically, religious rhetoric and circular reasoning fall apart, and arguments against God (such as Richard Dawkins’s) make a lot of sense.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:58:57 +0000

I would have to disagree with point #3 above. I have heard, and I think it’s true, that intelligent people (geeks?) tend to be more insecure. Maybe because the more you knowledge you acquire, the more you realize how much there is you don’t know? I think this leads to a need to be right, not necessarily a need to prove someone else wrong.

As for Sara’s comment that the complexity of the universe proves there must be a creator, I disagree with that. I recently heard an interview with Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion. He made a couple of good points regarding the design theory. If there is a being as intelligent as God (who is presumably all knowing and immensely complicated), he would have emerged at the end of evolution, not the beginning. (or maybe you believe an alien being created life on earth?) If there is a all-knowing creator, he created life in such a way that disguises his part in the creation. The more you try to prove the existence of a God, the more preposterous your arguments become, I think. Therefore, religion requires passionate belief in the absence of evidence, which might explain why intelligent, science-oriented types don’t buy into it.

By: robin

robin — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:41:35 +0000

Shuzak’s point 3 shows up part of the problem here: they simultaneously deny that a geek may be smarter than average and assume that someone who is smarter than average is destructive rather than constructive.
I think most people at the higher end of the intelligence spectrum have trouble with organized religion and spirituality in general, for reasons noted most admirably by serotonin’s comment. However, since we no longer value high intelligence in our society, admitting that you’re a geek is just as isolating as admitting that you’re an atheist. There has been a measured correlation between intelligence and depression or melancholy, which is largely due to something called “depressive realism”. People who are very intelligent are unable to wallow in self-delusion. They see things as they really are and become depressed. They also become atheists.
This is important. A lot of people will try to tell you that if you could just give youself up to Jesus you would be happier. If I could give myself up to the idea that I was a witty and charming beauty I’d be happier also, but that wouldn’t make it true.

By: Sillstaw

Sillstaw — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:50:28 +0000

Well, personally, I consider myself a geek and a skeptical Mormon (in other words, accepting God is easy, but accepting a bunch of wars as the end of the world is crazy; I mean, haven’t there always been wars?). I have to say that Zach’s mention of experiences of God meaning “crisis and disquiet” (i.e. “will I be held accountable for what I’ve done?”) and Sara’s mention of how an incredibly complex universe can’t be an accident are pretty much what I think.

If I had to guess as to why geeks are atheists, my best guess would be that going to church takes away from precious time that could be spent doing other things.

By: Rebecka

Rebecka — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:42:54 +0000

Hee hee, that’s great, Barbara!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:08:52 +0000

The “geekiest” of all scientists are physicists. Yet, I’ve read and heard (unfortunately I can not remember from where), that more physicists believe in God than any of the other sciences.

If I can find the source to this, I’ll e-mail it to you.

By: QaplaGCA

QaplaGCA — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:31:43 +0000

As far as the poll being proof, I don’t think it’s enough of a representation to be valid on its own. Though it does prompt the theory that geeks are more LIKELY to be atheists.
And I would agree with that theory. Being a techie type myself with the typical tendencies toward sci-fi fandom and anti-social behavior, I don’t describe myself as practicing any organized religion. I was raised on Christian principles, but don’t subscribe to everything they preach, and consider the ritualistic parts unnecessary. I always say “I have too many technical questions.” And, what makes a billion Buddhists wrong and doomed to eternal damnation? etc. And blind faith is completely unacceptable to the analytical mind. Mostly because there are so many versions of the “truth”. And that number keeps increasing, not decreasing, so we aren’t narrowing it down any.
Oh, and I would say the baby’s daddy knows because of trust, not faith.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:05:57 +0000

Just a comment on faith that my uncle heard in theological school. A man and wife have a baby. The woman knows it’s her baby–that’s knowledge. The man knows it’s his baby–that’s faith.

By: Pointy-Hatted Geek

Pointy-Hatted Geek — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:49:38 +0000

I don’t have any one religion, just because 1) Why should this group of people be right, rahter than this group of people? and 2) Several popular religions (you know who you are) worship one god, usually male, and that doesn’t seem to work in this democracy loving, equal-rights-for-all county we live in. Besides, we can’t possibly be doing this all by ourselves. I can’t imagine that all coincedences are just that. And look at some of the things that have happened, that at least SOME people could have been sensible enough to avoid:
-Bush being elected
-World War Two(and that one was a really weird “coincedence”, that whole thing with Franz Ferdinand and such)
-Bush being re-elected

And so on and so forth.

There’s got to be some divine interference going on there somewhere.