Mwanafunzi wa neuroendocrinologist aitwaye Robert Sapolsky, profesa katika Chuo Kikuu cha Stanford, ni mtu anayeeleza kuwa hakuna Mungu.
Wakati wa kupokea tuzo mwaka 2002 kutoka Uhuru wa Kutoka kwa Dini Foundation, inayotolewa kwa ajili ya kutambua "kuzungumza wazi" juu ya mapungufu ya dini na takwimu za umma, alisema:
Nililelewa katika familia ya Kirohodoki (Wayahudi), na nilitukuzwa kwa dini hadi kufikia umri wa miaka 13 au zaidi. Katika miaka yangu ya ujana, mojawapo ya vitendo vyenye kufafanua katika maisha yangu ilikuwa kuacha mbali na imani zote za kidini.
Pia, wakati wa maonyesho ya moja ya mihadhara yake, ikilinganishwa na dini na schizophrenia iliyoshirikishwa, alisema kuwa tabia zilizoonyeshwa na "manabii" katika maandiko ya kidini ni matendo ya kugundua. Pia ameelezea kwamba mifano na mafundisho ya wanaume - kama vile hadithi za ujenzi wa dunia katika siku saba, kuzaliwa kwa bikira na misitu ya moto - ni hadithi zilizojengwa na "maumbo makubwa, schizotypals sana katika historia".
Alisema kuwa mila ya kidini ni aina ya kuonyesha matatizo ya obsidi-kulazimisha, na kwamba watu wa dini ni watu wenye ugonjwa wa akili.
Kwa hakika ni mtazamo mgumu kwa mtu yeyote wa dini, lakini pia ni lens ya kuvutia ambayo mtaona jambo ambalo limejenga ujenzi wa jamii kwa miaka mia moja.
Au, ikiwa unatafuta wazi zaidi, maelezo rahisi kuhusu kusudi na kuwepo kwa dini, hapa George Carlin juu ya suala hili:
Religion is a Mental Illness Dr Sapolsky (antitheist atheist videos)
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George Carlin --- Religion is Bullshit
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This neuroscientist says religion is a mental illness
A neuroendocrinologist called Robert Sapolsky, a professor at Stanford University, is a self-described atheist.
When accepting the Emperor Has No Clothes Award in 2002 from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is given for recognition of "plain speaking" on the shortcomings of religion by public figures, he said:
I was raised in an Orthodox (Jewish) household, and I was raised devoutly religious up until around age 13 or so. In my adolescent years, one of the defining actions in my life was breaking away from all religious belief whatsoever.
He's also, during footage of one of his lectures, compared religion to a shared schizophrenia, argued that the behaviours exhibited by "prophets" in religious texts are diagnosable acts. He's also reasoned that the parables and teachings of these men - such as stories of the construction of the world in seven days, virgin births and burning bushes - are stories constructed by "extremely formative, extremely schizotypals throughout history".
He's argued that religious rituals are a form of exhibiting obsessive-compulsive disorders, and that religious people are on a spectrum of mental illness.
It's certainly a challenging viewpoint to anyone religious, but it's also an interesting lens by which to view the phenomena that has moulded societal constructs for millennia.
Carlin on the matter:
Wasioamini Mungu wana akili zaidi kuliko wanaoamini kulingana na masomo kadhaa.
Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman na Judith A. Hall kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Rochester na Chuo Kikuu cha Kaskazini-Mashariki walifanya uchunguzi wa meta (hiyo ni uchambuzi wa takwimu ambao unachanganya matokeo ya tafiti nyingi za sayansi) ya tafiti 63 ambazo zimeonyesha uhusiano mbaya kati ya akili na Religiosity.
Jumuiya ilikuwa imara kati ya wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu na dhaifu zaidi katika vijana na watoto.
Ilikuwa pia imara kwa imani za dini kuliko tabia ya dini. Kwa kweli, watu wanaoamini mafundisho ya kidini kinyume na wale wanaoamini dini.
Uaminifu ulifafanuliwa kama "kiwango cha kuhusika katika baadhi au vipengele vyote vya dini." Hii ilikuwa na imani katika mawakala wa kawaida na "ahadi za gharama kubwa kwa mawakala hawa" kama vile sadaka ya mali kama dhabihu. Kipengele kingine ni kushiriki katika mila ya jumuiya, kama kwenda kanisa, na "mahangaiko ya chini ya kuwepo kama vile kifo kutokana na imani katika mawakala wa kawaida" (yaani kuwa chini ya hofu ya kifo kwa sababu unaamini unakwenda mbinguni).
Sio wazi kabisa kwa nini watu wasiokuwa wa kidini wana akili zaidi - lakini tofauti hutofautiana na umri
Katika Chuo Kikuu kugawa ni nguvu zaidi.
Inawezekana kwa kuwa wanafunzi wengi wa akili wana uwezekano wa kukubali atheism kama fomu ya kutofautiana. Chuo Kikuu kinaelezea watu kwa mawazo mapya na ushawishi, wanafunzi hupoteza imani zao au kupata kidini zaidi wakati huu, kulingana na utafiti. Mabadiliko haya ni mara nyingi kama matokeo ya "uchunguzi wa kibinafsi ambao unaonyesha watu wazima wanaojitokeza na ambao mara nyingi huonekana katika wanafunzi" kama "kujitenga kutoka nyumbani na kufidhiliwa na mazingira ambayo inasisitiza kuhoji inaweza kuruhusu akili kuathiri imani za kidini". Utafiti unaongeza kwamba
Kutumia kufikiri (kinyume na intuitive) kufikiri, wanafunzi wengi wa chuo wenye akili wanaweza kuwa na uwezekano mkubwa wa kuondokana na dini. Ikiwa atheism haikubaliki nyumbani, akili kubwa inaweza kuwezesha upinzani wa shinikizo la kufanana.
Wakati baadaye katika maisha, watu wenye akili zaidi wanapata nafasi kubwa ya kupata na kuaa ndoa ambayo huwafanya kuwa chini ya kutegemeana na kazi ambayo dini hutoa. Watu wenye akili zaidi pia wana uwezekano mkubwa wa kuwa na ajira za juu na kutumia muda zaidi shuleni, ambayo inasababisha kujiheshimu zaidi na "kuhamasisha udhibiti wa imani binafsi" kulingana na utafiti.
Kuzeeka, hata hivyo, kuna uwezekano mkubwa wa kuongeza ufahamu wa vifo
Utafiti umeendelea kwa karibu miaka 80 na umeshirikiana na watu wa umri wote.
Imani ya kidini inaweza kusaidia kusimamia hofu ya kifo cha mtu kinachokaribia
Kulingana na utafiti huo, hakuna ushahidi unaohusiana na uhusiano kati ya wasiwasi wa akili na kifo. Ingawa mantiki hii inaonyesha kuwa "uhusiano mbaya kati ya akili na religiosity inaweza kupungua mwishoni mwa maisha, ushahidi husika tunaonyesha vinginevyo."
Washirika wenye akili sana wa sampuli walichukua alama za chini za kidini, kuhusiana na idadi ya watu, hata katika miaka yao ya dhahabu (umri wa miaka 75 hadi 91).
Atheists are more intelligent than religious people according to dozens of studies.
Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman and Judith A. Hall from the University of Rochester and the Northeastern University conducted a meta-analysis (that's a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) of 63 studies that showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity.
The association was strongest among university students and weakest in teenagers and children.
It was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behaviour. In effect, people who believe religious teachings as opposed to those practising religions.
Religiosity was defined as "the degree of involvement in some or all facets of religion." This included beliefs in supernatural agents and "costly commitments to these agents" such as offering of property as a sacrifice. Another 'facet' is participating in communal rituals, such as going to church, and "lower existential anxieties such as death due to a belief in supernatural agents" (i.e. being less scared of death because you believe you're going to heaven).
It's not entirely clear why non-religious people are more intelligent - but the difference varies with age
At University the divide is the strongest.
It may be because more intelligent students are more likely to embrace atheism as a form of non-conformity. University tends to expose people to new ideas and influences, students tend to lose their beliefs or get more religious during this time, according to the study. These changes are often as a result of "the self-exploration that typifies emerging adulthood and that is often observed in students" as "the separation from home and the exposure to a context that encourages questioning may allow intelligence to impact religious beliefs". The study adds that
Using analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking, more intelligent college students may be more likely to eschew religion. If atheism is disapproved of at home, higher intelligence may facilitate resistance to conformity pressure.
Whereas later in life, more intelligent people are more likely to get and stay married which makes them less reliant on the attachment that the function of religion provides. More intelligent people are also more likely to have higher level jobs and spend more time in school, which leads to higher self-esteem and "encourages control of personal beliefs" according to the study.
Ageing, however, is more likely to increase awareness of mortality
The research has been going on for almost 80 years and has measured association with individuals of all ages.
Religious beliefs can help manage the terror of one’s impending death
According to the study, there is no evidence pertaining to the relation between intelligence and death anxiety. Although this logic suggests that "the negative relation between intelligence and religiosity might decline at the end of life, the relevant evidence we have indicates otherwise."
The highly intelligent members of the sample retained lower religiosity scores, relative to the general population, even in their golden years (age 75 to 91).
A scientist looked through 63 studies to conclude atheists are more intelligent than religious people
Atheists are more intelligent, according to a study of 63 papers
TAFADHALI JIBUNI BILA MATUSI, MAJIBU YENYE NGUVU YA HOJA..ASANTE