beliefisbunk

Correct me if I'm wrong - the U.S. Census shows that 1/7 of the world population is atheist.

For the past millenium this fraction has NOT been the same - within the last hundred years, the number has risen dramatically.

Although there is probably no mathematical quote to explain the rise, how do you think the continued advance in science and technology will effect the number within the next hundred years, and perhaps by the next millenium?

Philosoft

[emphasis mine]

I think you might be wrong.

Fiach

Last year I saw a statistical rundown on the world's belief systems. I can't remember where I read it (? Free Inquiry or Freethought Today?)

But it reported that worldwide Atheists/agnostics make up 20% of the population. Of course that is not an even distribution. It varies from single digit percentages in certain Latin American countries and possibly the USA, and Muslim nations. Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Kmer, all have Atheist populations at or over 50%. Atheists have a slight majority in the UK and Scotland, Netherlands, France, Scandinavia, Hungary, Czech, Ukraine, the Baltic Republics. Exceptions in Europe are Poland, Ireland, and Portugal where Christians are 75% or greater.

I think our numbers are growing for various reasons. There is the advance in science that has stepwise eliminated God's jobs in the universe. But also there is more of a stress on logic and critical thinking and analysis. This is even more important. Science can never disprove any God. But reason makes god belief ludricrous.

Fiach

Fiach

I think the 1/7 figure may be misleading. What does the US Census know about "the World"? I remember reading that in the USA, the percentage of atheists hangs around 5%, and if you toss in agnostics, generic freethinkers it is 11%.

The USA is the leading scientific nation in the world but unlike Europe, which is catching up, superstitious beliefs abound more strongly. In Europe, which is about half-Atheist, half-Theist, 90+% accept the fact of evolution. Christians here consider Evolution no longer debatable apart from mechanisms.

In contrast, 49% of Americans believe in literal Biblical Genesis Magical Creation. Some are undecided and a clear minority accept evolution. How can America remain scientifically advanced in this state? It is because the scientific community is quite talented even if a smaller elite minority in a largely superstitious country.

But part of America's solution is to recruit scientifically trained foreign graduates. American Universities are complaining that they fail to get sufficiently qualified American college grads for Ph.D. programs in science. So they come over here and recruit our graduates. Take them out and wine and dine them with monetary incentives (Scholarship/grants).

They do the same with our experienced doctoral holders. I know because they recruited me, 10 years ago. I worked over there for almost a decade before recently returning home. Fortunately America can pay incomes that make our eyes bug out. I saved enough working in America to retire now if I wished.

For some reason, America's fabulous scientific achievements, have not filtered down to most of the common people whose world views are largely medieval. Why is that?

Is America's religiosity and fundamentalism a product of science illiteracy? Or is it a failure to teach "thinking skills" such as logic, reason, and critical anaylsis in schools?

Please do not take my post as Anti-American. I am far from that. I liked America and have many dear friends over there. I admire its accomplishments. But I worry over its future because of seeming rise of anti-intellectual Christian Fundamenalism, and anti-Science.

Fiach

beliefisbunk

Just say you're 95% anti-American and all's cool.



(Happy to be among a percentage - whatever that percentage is - of nonbelieving Americans)

Jobar

People, this should be in MRD, not EoG. (Or perhaps C-S S & Activism- if the MRD mods decide to move it there, it might be the best place.) Jobar.

DigitalDruid

These are good questions that I too have been asking and exploring for a while. You might find <a href="http://www.geoffdavis.net/dartmouth/policy/elites.html" target="_blank">Scientific Ellites and Scientific Illeterates</a> by caltech's David Goodstein interesting in that it addresses some of these questions.

MadMordigan

I think our numbers are growing for various reasons. There is the advance in science that has stepwise eliminated God's jobs in the universe. But also there is more of a stress on logic and critical thinking and analysis. This is even more important. Science can never disprove any God. But reason makes god belief ludricrous.

Add the fact that self-identifying yourself as an atheist no longer holds quite the threat of being tortured to death in most places, and an argument could be made that non-belief was significantly underreported in the past.

sullster

Fiach,
Anti-science in the USA is not only the fault of fundamentalism. The fundies actually have no problem with large areas of science, such as communcations technologies. The fundies love and use all forms of radio, television and now the internet. Look at how they love the Second Law of Thermodynamics when they bash natural selection. True, they misunderstand it in relation to biology, but they do use a solid scientific law and believe it to be true.

In the USA, there is also a strong anti-science movement which comes from the humanities in the universities. There are intellectual elites who oppose science because it fits in with their political and ideological biases. They actually go further than the fundies, because they undermine the very foundations of all science.

Ideological feminists call science a "male dominated anti-female field of knowledge", or some critics of Western history consider science to be a means of European oppression of the world. Some philosophers consider science to be just another way of looking at reality, no more or less valid than religion.

An enormous percentage of US college students learn no science or its methods and are exposed to the previously reviewed anti-science ideas. It is any wonder that fundamentalist anti-science can run rampant among the US masses? The educated elites in America are in collusion with the religious obscuritans.

beoba

Religion statistics at <a href="http://www.adherents.org" target="_blank">http://www.adherents.org</a>