Los Angeles Times: Thinking can undermine religious faith, study finds

[AdHocSolver]

14. This study is nonsensical on so many levels.

It is difficult to decide where to begin. So I will comment on one paragraph that exemplifies the problem.

(snip)
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According to one theory of human thinking, the brain processes information using two systems. The first relies on mental shortcuts by using intuitive responses — a gut instinct, if you will — to quickly arrive at a conclusion. The other employs deliberative analysis, which uses reason to arrive at a conclusion.
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The "professors" are totally wrong on this point. The brain does not process information in two distinct ways. The so-called intuitive thinking processes, or "gut instinct", is merely the brain processing information at a subconscious level. This type of thinking can be superior to conscious reasoning when a person's conscious reasoning starts from false premises.

A person who comes to erroneous conclusions based on false premises will believe his conclusions are correct because his logic is flawless, but will not understand the error of his ways because of an inability to question his basic premises.

A perfect example of what I mean can be found in all the erroneous babble about the economy in the mainstream media and on the web.

My gut instinct reading this article tells me that these "scientists" are full of bovine manure. Having worked behind the scenes in academia, my rational thinking processes lead me to the same conclusion.

The biggest danger of this article is that dolts who develop elaborate logical arguments based on false premises will think themselves superior, and a further danger is that others will take them seriously.

A better study would be examine the relationship between religious faith and "personality" (NOT reasoning ability) with consideration, for example, to where a person is situated on a scale of authoritarianism.