The higher an IQ level people have the less likely they are to believe in God. That is the finding of a paper written by Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University that was published by the academic journal Intelligence.
Critics has branded the paper simplistic but could Lynn be on to something?
Lynn cites that the decline in religious observance has been affected by a rise in average intelligence over the last century.
In the past Professor Lynn has had some controversial studies with research that links intelligence to race and sex. This time around he claims that those who are university academics are less likely to believe in God than the rest of the population.
Lynn found that while most young children have a belief in God in primary school that fades by adolescents as their intelligence increases. The doubts that teenagers have is often heightened as they head off to university.
A survey of Royal Society fellows saw that only 3.3 percent believe in God. The rest of the general UK population tends to describe themselves as believers (68.5 percent).
During the 1990's a different poll carried out using members of the American National Academy of Sciences showed that a mere seven percent believed in God.
Lynn told Times Higher Education magazine: "Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God."
Lynn concludes that religious belief in 137 developed nations declines as people became more intelligent.
Professor Gordon Lynch, director of the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College says that Lynn's paper does not take into account the full range of factors that include social, economic and historical factors.
"Linking religious belief and intelligence in this way could reflect a dangerous trend, developing a simplistic characterisation of religion as primitive, which - while we are trying to deal with very complex issues of religious and cultural pluralism - is perhaps not the most helpful response," he said.
Dr Alistair McFadyen, senior lecturer in Christian theology at Leeds University believes that Lynn's study has a tinge of an anti-religious sentiment.
What do you think? Does the more a person learns the less likely that they believe in a higher source?
Study Suggests Higher Intelligence Decreases Belief In God
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