Will the Flynn effect make religion go way of the Dodo?

[Snuffleupagus]

For those who don't know the Flynn effect is essentially that thru evolution humans are on average gaining roughly 3% in IQ every decade, the average person today would have been considered a genius 100 years ago.

Many studies have found that, on average belief in God is associated with lower scores on IQ tests, so if this 3% increase continues will we finally be able to say goodbye to the really bad idea called religion?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Yes… it’s why they suppress education. All of them.

[btimbit]

I sure hope so

[FlamesAddiction]

Religion will likely change a lot. Some will evolve, others will become obsolete, and new beliefs will emerge. I think there will always be come kind of spiritualism prevalent in societies. Nowadays, we see spirituality arising through metaphysical philosophies, some of which are based in science.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Yes… it’s why they suppress education. All of them.

In todays internet age can you really suppress IQ though? I guess in countries with little internet and even worst education like not allowing girls to get any at all religion won't change but that's a small percentage of the worlds population.

[MoneyGuy]

It’ll never happen.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

It’ll never happen.

Usually replying to a thread that has a question mark (?) requires a personal explanation not just a drive by, but thanks anyway for the intelligent response

[bizaro86]

Non-religious populations everywhere are procreating at below replacement level, while more heavily religious group are the opposite.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

It’ll never happen.

Why?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Non-religious populations everywhere are procreating at below replacement level, while more heavily religious group are the opposite.

That sounds a lot like the synopsis of Idiocracy.

[GreenLantern2814]

If you think faith isn’t baked into the secret of human existence, I don’t know what to tell you.

I’m not making any excuses for any organized institution, but the idea that if we act the right way, things will work out in the end on an individual and group level is the crux of our superpowers.

So no. Religion isn’t going anywhere.

And not for nothing, but the stupid outnumber the smart. Always have, always will.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

For those who don't know the Flynn effect is essentially that thru evolution humans are on average gaining roughly 3% in IQ every decade, the average person today would have been considered a genius 100 years ago.

Many studies have found that, on average belief in God is associated with lower scores on IQ tests, so if this 3% increase continues will we finally be able to say goodbye to the really bad idea called religion?

Flynn affect appears to be only measured back to 1942 so lead, nutrition, access to education and familiarity with iQ tests are far more likely the reason. Zero evolution has occurred in the last 80 years. So the Flynn affect will stop.

Religiosity generally follows standard of living and education. If you improve those things then organized religion will dwindle. That said you can see the need for in groups that religion used to provide all over the place. Religion exists likely because of how we evolved so there is some underlying need for belonging and order that is hard wired in so I think we also have various forms of spirituality in existence.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Why?

Religion is the worship of a God or Gods.

How do you kill a God?

Besides killing all the people who worship a particular one, I mean - but, then you might have just become the thing you sought to destroy.

[Yeah_Baby]

Humans are both meaning seekers and meaning creators. The religious impulse is so ingrained in us I'm not sure we'll grow beyond it, the impulse will just evolve in how we live it out.

[afc wimbledon]

It depends also on how you define religion, the US is full of X'tian fundies, I'm friends with some, but they dont really believe in Jesus in the old school pray for your salvation way of 3 or 400 years ago, modern Christianity has become performative more than superstitious, Baptists and Mormons spend the week living life any way they want really, they drink, eat anything on any day, their religion is a club they go to on Sundays, while they say they believe in Jesus and God that belief demands nothing from them, they happily screw around drink cuss, they dont really observe any of the traditional fasts, lent or the like, they make no pilgrimages, their priests are routinely outed as charletons their churches are devoid of symbolism and their services are designed to entertain and require nothing of them

I'm not sure you can consider it a religion any more, its a club

[nik-]

Maybe, but I hope people aren't getting excited for "a time that's there's no religion" like our primate coding won't just replace it with a different form of tribalism.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by nik-

Maybe, but I hope people aren't getting excited for "a time that's there's no religion" like our primate coding won't just replace it with a different form of tribalism.

Yeh eff those filthy oilers

[Table 5]

Interesting timing, as it seems like there may be a reverse Flynn happening right now. https://www.popularmechanics.com/sci...-flynn-effect/

[Dion]

Decline, however, does not mean disappearance, says Ara Norenzayan, a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and author of Big Gods. Existential security is more fallible than it seems. In a moment, everything can change: a drunk driver can kill a loved one; a tornado can destroy a town; a doctor can issue a terminal diagnosis. As climate change wreaks havoc on the world in coming years and natural resources potentially grow scarce, then suffering and hardship could fuel religiosity. “People want to escape suffering, but if they can’t get out of it, they want to find meaning,” Norenzayan says. “For some reason, religion seems to give meaning to suffering – much more so than any secular ideal or belief that we know of.”

This phenomenon constantly plays out in hospital rooms and disaster zones around the world. In 2011, for example, a massive earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand – a highly secular society. There was a sudden spike of religiosity in the people who experienced that event, but the rest of the country remained as secular as ever. While exceptions to this rule do exist – religion in Japan plummeted following World War II, for instance – for the most part, Zuckerman says, we adhere by the Christchurch model. “If experiencing something terrible caused all people to become atheists, then we’d all be atheists,” he says.

For all of these reasons – psychological, neurological, historical, cultural and logistical – experts guess that religion will probably never go away. Religion, whether it’s maintained through fear or love, is highly successful at perpetuating itself. If not, it would no longer be with us.

And even if we lose sight of the Christian, Muslim and Hindu gods and all the rest, superstitions and spiritualism will almost certainly still prevail. More formal religious systems, meanwhile, would likely only be a natural disaster or two away. “Even the best secular government can’t protect you from everything,” says McCauley. As soon as we found ourselves facing an ecological crisis, a global nuclear war or an impending comet collision, the gods would emerge.

“Humans need comfort in the face of pain and suffering, and many need to think that there’s something more after this life, that they’re loved by an invisible being,” Zuckerman says. “There will always be people who believe, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they remain the majority.”

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...be%20with%20us.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

I doubt it ever goes away. A more important question perhaps, is whether it will hold outsized political power in society. As an atheist, religion can exist in its current own little world so long as it isn’t dictating policy to the larger society.