Reply #28: people who think the world is 6000 years old are not well educated

[RainDog]

because the way they got to that idea was through indoctrination, not thought, not study. In order to maintain that belief they have to deny reams of evidence that is available, reproducible studies that demonstrate such beliefs are akin to snake handling... there's a vast different between being able to pass a test and being intelligent.

I realize that in many parts of the U.S. religion is a way for lower and middle class people to avoid the "madonna/whore" trap that conservative religion sets for people... i.e. one is either a "good person" and studies, etc. or they're not religious and get into trouble.

that could be a description of the south I knew as a kid... the south that still exists.

where I am, kids who are not religious do very well. but I live in a University town and religion doesn't have the weight here that it does in other places. My kids went to school with kids from 39 other nations. It was always one of the highest ranked schools in the state. The kids from other nations, however, had parents who were in school and who instilled the value of education and study. So, I guess that "monoculture" idea for educational achievement isn't all that important - unless the "monoculture" is about the value of education and questioning of traditional thought.

Where I live is one of the top ten places in the U.S. to start a biz b/c of its highly educated populace, according to Forbes. (oh, and b/c of its cultural diversity, including open acceptance of the GBLT community.) Guess Utah has some competition.

we could give anecdotal evidence all day.

a new study indicates that having a home library is equal to having a parent with a university education, in terms of the value to a child.

Other studies demonstrate, however, that religious people, on average, have lower IQs than the non-religious. maybe this is because intelligence isn't just about repeating lists of "facts." I dunno.

I do know that study after study reveals authoritarians and the religious have lower IQs. IQ tests really indicate how much of a culture someone understands, so I guess that might be a problem for certain sorts of religious belief. I dunno.