Re: Analytic thinking and religious belief

On Saturday, April 28, 2012 11:09:47 AM UTC+1, Lance wrote:
Analytic thinking can decrease religious belief, research shows

April 26th, 2012 in Psychology & Psychiatry
A new University of British Columbia study finds that analytic
thinking can decrease religious belief, even in devout believers.

The study, published today in the journal Science, finds that thinking
analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike,
shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief.

"Our goal was to explore the fundamental question of why people
believe in a God to different degrees," says lead author Will Gervais,
a PhD student in UBC's Dept. of Psychology. "A combination of complex
factors influence matters of personal spirituality, and these new
findings suggest that the cognitive system related to analytic
thoughts is one factor that can influence disbelief."

Researchers used problem-solving tasks and subtle experimental priming
– including showing participants Rodin's sculpture The Thinker or
asking participants to complete questionnaires in hard-to-read fonts –
to successfully produce "analytic" thinking. The researchers, who
assessed participants' belief levels using a variety of self-reported
measures, found that religious belief decreased when participants
engaged in analytic tasks, compared to participants who engaged in
tasks that did not involve analytic thinking.

The findings, Gervais says, are based on a longstanding human
psychology model of two distinct, but related cognitive systems to
process information: an "intuitive" system that relies on mental
shortcuts to yield fast and efficient responses, and a more "analytic"
system that yields more deliberate, reasoned responses.

"Our study builds on previous research that links religious beliefs to
'intuitive' thinking," says study co-author and Associate Prof. Ara
Norenzayan, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "Our findings suggest that
activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine
the 'intuitive' support for religious belief, at least temporarily."

The study involved more than 650 participants in the U.S. and Canada.
Gervais says future studies will explore whether the increase in
religious disbelief is temporary or long-lasting, and how the findings
apply to non-Western cultures.

Recent figures suggest that the majority of the world's population
believes in a God, however atheists and agnostics number in the
hundreds of millions, says Norenzayan, a co-director of UBC's Centre
for Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture. Religious convictions are
shaped by psychological and cultural factors and fluctuate across time
and situations, he says.

Provided by University of British Columbia


"Analytic thinking can decrease religious belief, research shows."
April 26th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-analytic-decrease-religious-belief.html

Interesting, but the article doesn't provide much detail. Philosophers think analytically about religious issues and often take an atheistic or agnostic stance. However, theologians also may often take an analytic approach.....

Dave Smith
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Analytic thinking and religious belief
    ... even in devout believers. ... analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, ... shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief. ... activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Analytic thinking and religious belief
    ... 2012 in Psychology & Psychiatry ... The findings, Gervais says, are based on a longstanding human ... activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine ... Provided by University of British Columbia ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Re: Analytic thinking and religious belief
    ... analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, ... shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief. ... shortcuts to yield fast and efficient responses, ... activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Re: Analytic thinking and religious belief
    ... analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, ... shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief. ... shortcuts to yield fast and efficient responses, ... activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Re: Analytic thinking and religious belief
    ... analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, ... shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief. ... shortcuts to yield fast and efficient responses, ... activating the 'analytic' cognitive system in the brain can undermine ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)