Can this 3-Question Quiz Predict Whether You Believe in God?

JGG · Nov 27, 2014

I also should point out an experience today on another thread. A person made a comment about an aspect of salvation. My response was that I didn't understand and proceeded to ask 5 questions. The response to all 5 questions was something like: "Our relationship with God is paved by the sacrifice of Jesus." Now, not only were my original 5 questions not actually answered, but I was given a "generic religious answer" which was basically just a rewording of the original statement. This kind of answer is meant to answer a variety of questions generally, but none specifically. That only raised several more questions. I'm sure this poster found his answer satisfying, but I didn't. This is how religion has always worked for me.

I often see theists say to myself or other atheists when we've asked "too many questions" we're told "you just want to argue". It's not so much that as much as we generally have more questions than answers. These answers may satisfy you, but they don't work for me.

lt11 · Nov 27, 2014

JGG said:
I also should point out an experience today on another thread. A person made a comment about an aspect of salvation. My response was that I didn't understand and proceeded to ask 5 questions. The response to all 5 questions was something like: "Our relationship with God is paved by the sacrifice of Jesus." Now, not only were my original 5 questions not actually answered, but I was given a "generic religious answer" which was basically just a rewording of the original statement. This kind of answer is meant to answer a variety of questions generally, but none specifically. That only raised several more questions. I'm sure this poster found his answer satisfying, but I didn't. This is how religion has always worked for me. I often see theists say to myself or other atheists when we've asked "too many questions" we're told "you just want to argue". It's not so much that as much as we generally have more questions than answers. These answers may satisfy you, but they don't work for me.

I sent you a message apologising for coming across that way I hope that you will read the message I sent you

Colter · Nov 27, 2014

JGG said:
I think you missed the point. Some people are just analytical, others are inuitive.

I have a hard time seeing certain types movies with certain people. For instance, I just saw Interstellar and walked out with tons of questions and problems with the story. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the ideas about blackholes and passage of time stuff. But the story presented too many problems for me to let go. I find often that's how I enjoy a movie. As I result I tend to gravitate to comedies and documentaries. I especially like absurd comedies like Monty Python because they're not supposed to make sense.

There's a group on YouTube with videos with the title "Everything Wrong With..." and they pick apart a movie. I love these guys, I feel a certain kinship with them.

I'm the same way actually, I grew up with a general belief in God but saw all sorts of problems with the Bible in an analytical way.

Colter · Nov 27, 2014

JGG said:
I also should point out an experience today on another thread. A person made a comment about an aspect of salvation. My response was that I didn't understand and proceeded to ask 5 questions. The response to all 5 questions was something like: "Our relationship with God is paved by the sacrifice of Jesus." Now, not only were my original 5 questions not actually answered, but I was given a "generic religious answer" which was basically just a rewording of the original statement. This kind of answer is meant to answer a variety of questions generally, but none specifically. That only raised several more questions. I'm sure this poster found his answer satisfying, but I didn't. This is how religion has always worked for me.

I often see theists say to myself or other atheists when we've asked "too many questions" we're told "you just want to argue". It's not so much that as much as we generally have more questions than answers. These answers may satisfy you, but they don't work for me.

What were the 5 questions?

.

TheImmortalJellyfish · Nov 27, 2014

Colter said:
What were the 5 questions?

I looked back (because I was on the same thread), and they are as follows:

Firstly, you have confessed and repented every sin? Really? I have a hard time believing that.

Secondly, I want to confirm that you are claiming that Christians sin less than non-Christians. Does this not make Christians better people than other people?

Thirdly, I do not see how confessing and repenting makes being set free for the same crime I have committed...justice. My punishment is burning in hell for all eternity, and yours is "well, I shouldn'ta done that, eh?" I'm not seeing how that is just, especially from the view of any victim of your sin. If you and I both kill a couple of Jewish women, I get to sent to hell, the two Jewish women get sent to hell, but you get forgiveness...because you said "oops?"

Fourthly, are you saying there is a sin cut-off point? Do you get to sin a certain amount and get forgiven, but if you "sin habitually" then you're sent up the river...of fire?

Lastly, if confessing and repenting is what makes your forgiveness just, then what role does Jesus play? Wasn't Jesus' sacrifice in vain if all you have to do is confess and repent?
__________________

I may get to this later...still recovering from the turkey-day feast, but anyone else who wants to answer, it's up for grabs there...

JGG · Nov 27, 2014

I would point out that I presented that as an example, not to derail the thread. If someone really feels compelled to answer I can start an appropriate thread.

TheImmortalJellyfish · Nov 27, 2014

JGG said:
I would point out that I presented that as an example, not to derail the thread. If someone really feels compelled to answer I can start an appropriate thread.

Good idea...it's a great topic! I dunno why the other thread got locked down...I'm assuming it was something I said, since mine was the last post. Hope I didn't offend anyone...I apologize if I did.

seashale76 · Nov 27, 2014

Eudaimonist said:
This 3-Question Quiz Predicts Whether You Believe in God | Big Think | Praxis

Before you put your martyrdom tunic on, it isn't the point of the quiz that IQ determines religious belief. The explanation for the reasoning behind the quiz is at the end of the article.

So, do the creators of the quiz have a point here?

eudaimonia,

Mark

So, I took the quiz and got one out of three correct, I'm not gonna lie. I had my husband answer the questions without telling him what it was about and he got them all correct. He's a Christian- for whatever that's worth.

JGG · Nov 28, 2014

I made a thread here:

http://www.christianforums.com/t7853641/#post66688860

Eudaimonist · Nov 28, 2014

seashale76 said:
So, I took the quiz and got one out of three correct, I'm not gonna lie. I had my husband answer the questions without telling him what it was about and he got them all correct. He's a Christian- for whatever that's worth.

Okay. That is interesting.

I don't know of any statistics to back up the claim in the article that this sort of test has some value in predicting whether one is an atheist or a theist, but it is clear that this test is probably not a very strong indicator.

eudaimonia,

Mark

JGG · Nov 28, 2014

Eudaimonist said:
Okay. That is interesting.

I don't know of any statistics to back up the claim in the article that this sort of test has some value in predicting whether one is an atheist or a theist, but it is clear that this test is probably not a very strong indicator.

eudaimonia,

Mark

I don't know. We can't know who is not reporting.

seashale76 · Nov 28, 2014

Eudaimonist said:
Okay. That is interesting.

I don't know of any statistics to back up the claim in the article that this sort of test has some value in predicting whether one is an atheist or a theist, but it is clear that this test is probably not a very strong indicator.

eudaimonia,

Mark

I agree that it's probably not a strong indicator of who is an atheist or a theist. All it tells me is that I don't spend time thinking through math problems- and could have done better had I applied myself (which every math class I've ever had in my life has proven- when I apply myself I do great- and when I don't bother thinking through things or putting in any effort I screw it up). Looking at the answers I got wrong, I was like, doh! Also, I should hope that my husband could have answered them as he majored in math (he even tutored me back in the day)- I've seen him answer much more impressive higher level math problems quickly.

WindStaff · Nov 28, 2014

seashale76 said:
I agree that it's probably not a strong indicator of who is an atheist or a theist.

I think that it too strongly tries to black and white an atheist's mind to a theist's.

There is a good premise- an atheist's mind does tend to be more analytical whereas a theist's tends to be intuitive, but these are just pre-dominant traits- everone has at least some of the other. In fact, one could have any mixture of the two, and that would not dictate that they are agnostic anymore then that they are an atheist or theist.

Intuitive logic is adept to philosophy where analytical logic is adept at mathematics.
They are two paradigms of reasoning that excel in other things, but is by no means strictly black and white. While I find the study very interesting, I find it to also be a bit foundationally flawed.

GrowingSmaller · Nov 28, 2014

I got the first 2 right, and the third I gave up on almost immediately. I dont think if can relaiably predict religosity, but theres probably a statistically significant variation between groups (I didnt read the full article).

Cearbhall · Nov 28, 2014

NannaNae said:
well what really ticked me off about it is I knew both answers but put down the most obvious answer for the first two ..
because of that thing we are taught to do .
you know Oscam's razor, " Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better." so was it that the atheist were all in all rebellious and wanted to show off..
and the christians were doing what they were told and or taught to do?

Um, no. I'm pretty sure the people who put down the correct answers were simply confident of the correct answers. The information is all provided, and what I was "taught to do" is to use it properly. There's no absence of certainty and you don't have to make any assumptions. The correct answers were the obvious ones to me because I've been given similar problems multiple times in my education and I used the information given (I'm not saying this has anything to do with me being an atheist).

essentialsaltes · Nov 28, 2014

Eudaimonist said:
I don't know of any statistics to back up the claim in the article that this sort of test has some value in predicting whether one is an atheist or a theist, but it is clear that this test is probably not a very strong indicator.

The article has a link to the original Science article, where it lays out the correlations between the questions and religiosity. They aren't very strong, but are statistically significant:

In study 1, as hypothesized, analytic thinking was significantly negatively associated with all three measures of religious belief, rReligiosity = 0.22, P = 0.003; rIntuitive = 0.15, P = 0.04; and rAgents = 0.18, P = 0.02. This result demon- strated that, at the level of individual differences, the tendency to analytically override intuitions in reasoning was associated with religious dis- belief, supporting previous findings (4).

The study also mentions some other tests that are also interesting. Priming people to think analytically reduces their reported religiosity. Even something as tangential as expressing the question in a hard-to-read font fires up the analytical parts of the brain enough to have a (barely) statistically significant effect.

(In related news, other studies have shown that priming people with religious imagery can reduce cheating on tests.)

Eudaimonist · Nov 28, 2014

essentialsaltes said:
The article has a link to the original Science article, where it lays out the correlations between the questions and religiosity. They aren't very strong, but are statistically significant

Oh, I missed that. Thanks.

eudaimonia,

Mark

Radagast · Nov 30, 2014

Eudaimonist said:
This 3-Question Quiz Predicts Whether You Believe in God | Big Think | Praxis

Before you put your martyrdom tunic on, it isn't the point of the quiz that IQ determines religious belief. The explanation for the reasoning behind the quiz is at the end of the article.

So you think all Christians are stupid?

I think that says more about you than about us.

Radagast · Nov 30, 2014

essentialsaltes said:
They aren't very strong, but are statistically significant

They are very weak. Much weaker (and less significant) than the famous stork/baby correlation.

Also, this particular study doesn't seem to have controlled for demographic variables, which could explain all kinds of spurious correlations.

Eudaimonist · Nov 30, 2014

Radagast said:
So you think all Christians are stupid?

I think that says more about you than about us.

Does no one read the OP any longer? I explicitly wrote that that is not what I am saying.

eudaimonia,

Mark

Can this 3-Question Quiz Predict Whether You Believe in God?

Well-Known Member

Newbie

Member

Member

Unnaturally elected...

Well-Known Member

Unnaturally elected...

Unapologetic Iconodule

Well-Known Member

I believe in life before death!

Well-Known Member

Unapologetic Iconodule

WindStaff

Guest

Muslm Humanist

Well-Known Member

Fact-Based Lifeform

I believe in life before death!

comes and goes

comes and goes

I believe in life before death!

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency