Does religiosity impede science/math learning?

[Amergin]

Does belief in religious mythology hamper the learning of subjects like logic, math, and science?

Here is a breakdown of the top literacy levels by subject matter and how the United States places overall.

Mathematical Literacy

The United States ranks 18 overall in mathematical literacy when students are tested at age 15. Here are the countries that ranked in the top 10:

1. Japan
2. South Korea
3. New Zealand
4. Finland
5. Canada
6. Austria
7. UK
8. Switzerland
9. Belgium
10. France

Reading Literacy]/b]

United States’ students are ranked 15 for reading literacy worldwide. These countries ranked higher in this category:

1. Finland
2. Canada
3. New Zealand
4. Austria
5. Ireland
6. South Korea
7. UK
8. Japan
9. Sweden
10. Iceland

Geography Aptitude

Students in the United States rank 96th in the world for geographic aptitude. Here are the countries that ranked highest:

1. Philippines
2. Croatia
3. Liechtenstein
4. Ghana
5. Belgium
6. Brazil
7. Israel
8. Kyrgyzstan
9. Czech Republic
10. Estonia

Scientific Literacy

By age 15, students in the United States place 18th in the world for scientific literacy. Here are the countries, in order, that place in the top 10 positions for scientific literacy:

1. South Korea
2. Japan
3. Finland
4. UK
5. Canada
6. Australia
7. New Zealand
8. Austria
9. Ireland
10. Sweden

The religious landscape in North American is overwhelmingly Christian: about three in four adults identify themselves as Christian; the next largest organized religious groups are Islam and Judaism at about 1%.

Although the importance of religion has been declining in other developed countries, it has remained strong in the U.S.

The United States has a higher level of church attendance than any other country which is "at a comparable level of development."

53% of Americans consider religions to be very important in their lives. This compares with 16% in Britain, 14% in France and 13% in Germany.

Fundamentalistic mythology denies evolution, scientific geology, neuro-biological cognition, quantum physics, and considers advance math to be useless. Does this cause America to lose the competitive edge in science technology considering that 40% of Ph.D. scientists in Graduate Schools and Universities over the next generation?

Amergin

 

[Amergin]

 

[Amergin]

 

[Nick the Pilot]

My 'religiosity' does not hamper my study of science or math at all. As a matter of fact, it enhances such learning for me. (I wish everyone else could say the same thing.)

The first chart is totally wrong about Mainland China. I live in China, and a large percentage of Chinese are aetheists and non-religious.

 

[c0de]

The first chart is totally wrong about Mainland China. I live in China, and a large percentage of Chinese are aetheists and non-religious.

You live near the coast, that's traditionally a non-traditional area
I was there for the summer this year and I didn't notice much "religiosity" either

But most of China is not the coast.
I'm in Sichuan, and most people here are pretty traditionally "religious"
Once or twice a week a barrage of firecrackers goes off down at the street...
sounds like a frekkin warzone... apparently they do it when someone dies.
There's a lot of monasteries around in the hills too, so people are "religious"

(depends on your definition of religion though...)

 

[Nick the Pilot]

I did not know there is a big difference in religiosity depending on the regions in China. Thanks for the heads-up. (I am on the east coast, between Shanghai and Hong Kong.)

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

lol nice pol

 

[Amergin]

lol nice pol

I am pleased to know that China has a large proportion of atheists and non-religious. Now that China is becoming the World's only Superpower, I feel safe. I don't feel safe with fanatically religious America. Fanatically religious countries are always dangerous, and quick to use military force for immoral purposes.

I have been pro-Chinese for a long time. When the USA abandons most science research, it is comforting to know that the Chinese will pursue the advancement of science.

Amergin

 

[Amergin]

Dr. Dawkins describes the meme process in which religious mind viruses implant mythology in the gullible brain. Forcing the brain to reset circuits, it replaces reason and scepticism with mythology and superstition.

I have studied this as long as Dawkins. I know that it is the best explanation for religious fanaticism and religion's role in violence and wars.

The meme is implanted by endless repetition daily for several years in a young and gullible child.

Christianity is irrational, contradictory to known facts, self-contradictory, and frankly immoral if its bible is read with an open mind.

Meme repetition by endless repetition bypasses the logical, rational, and analytical networks of the brain. The Sceptical Filter (Rubbish Filter) is forced to abdicate its major function. It allows rubbish (religion) to be falsely recognised as rational by the analytical circuits.

This produces inner conflict and fosters cognitive dissociation. People must deal with reality and fantasy (which is ordered to be true.) People try to compartmentalise the irrational myths and superstitions from the obvious realities of daily life.

Many believers have varying success and adaptive skill in handling the problem. However, other people with weaker hard wiring of circuits cannot. The intensity of meme implantation varies from mild to severe to crippling. Many rationally handicapped victims of irrational memes cannot prevent the Mythological, superstitious, and irrational bollocks from spilling over the protective wall into their rational-sceptical networks. This further disrupts rational thinking.

The confusion of dissociation leads to insanity or to the common actions we read about in the news of homicidal violence by religious fanatics.

I think that many Christians and Muslims somehow vaguely realise the danger and this makes them fear science. Science is rational and in conflict with irrational fantasy (superstition) and the delusion of immortality. It makes them hate rational arguments. They fear the inner wall separating reality from Magic and Fantasy will crack or spring a leak.

The metaphorical wall must be defended at all costs. If the Magical Universe implodes, the result is loss of immortality. One common defence mechanism is to deny reality. Another defence is to kill the unbeliever who seems to threaten their imagined immortality.

Amergin

 

[Amergin]

Meme Complexes disrupt Neurocognitive Circuits like Computer Viruses on your PC.

My hypothesis is based on a computer model. It is the interaction of software that includes meme complexes (computer viruses) which may wreck the brain's hardware circuits and acquired rational programmes. Unlike past theories of fixed brain anatomy, we now know the brain is dynamic. Its actual hard ware circuitry can be altered by input, beneficial or destructive. Most religions being meme complexes are equivalent to computer viruses. Dr. Richard Dawkins calls Mind Viruses destructive. The very behaviours of the devoutly religious verify this hypothetical harmful virus model.

They are mind viruses because they disrupt normal neuronal circuits and behaviour networks like a computer virus fecks with your computer programmes. This causes the person infected by religious meme (religion the mind virus) to behave in very terrible ways. The biological virus alters one’s DNA which then alters formerly healthy circuits. Meme complexes like Christian Dogma present an irrational code to the developing brain repeatedly and intensively so that the Brains defence, the Sceptical Filter fails to recognise it as rubbish. However, the brain itself is anatomically altered by the meme virus in that defective circuits are made while the logical, critical, and sceptical circuits are allow to whither away from disuse. The victim’s brain accepts irrational rubbish without question and uses new defence circuits to block the rational ideas from competing.

Those people thus infected with meme complexes have an actual encephalopathy. It is akin to viral encephalitis such as rabies or herpes. They act irrationally. Violence may be committed on the basis of further perverted interpretation of the irrational dogma of their memes.

An example is the killing of babies by their own mothers. They do so because Satan is possessing the babies or because God ordered the killings. The meme infected mother wishes to guarantee their entry into Heaven before they have chance to sin, or one of the babies is the Anti-Christ.

Others with this meme encephalopathy may blow up federal buildings, clinics, gay bars, African-American Churches, Mosques, libraries, Museums, Archaeological excavations, Palaeontological digs, or sometimes killing innocent people for chaotic religious ideas and delusions of being on a mission from God.

Muslims behave in frighteningly similar ways from their slightly variant mind virus codes. The commonality seems to be violence, sexual obsession, and oppression of women. Both Christianity and Islam have a huge monopoly on all wars of the last 1700 years, compared to Buddhism. And Deism's only known war was the American Revolution which pitted Freedom oriented liberal Deists against Conservative Authoritarian Christians. But it should be noted that Deists did not fight FOR RELIGION but FOR FREEDOM FROM RELIGON.

There are so many examples from current news. There are Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Osama Bin Laden. And there are Benjamin Smith, Buford Furrow, Eric Rudolph, Tim McVeigh, Paul Hill, Army of God, The Order, Robert Matthews, Christian Identity, the KKK, and George W. Bush's Crusade (unprovoked invasion of Iraq.) The latter I suspect happened because of Bush's Armageddon Delusions, and the psychiatric significance of Iraq = Mesopotamia the location of ancient Babylon. He has killed 1000 to 1500 American soldiers, a hundred thousand or more Iraqis, to promote a full Armageddon. In his delusional mind, disrupted from meme virus damage to circuits, it is his privilege to bring on the bloody End War. The billions of deaths will force Jesus to return. He assumes that Jesus will reward the murderers of infidels with salvation.

The whole process is indeed insane. Perhaps many fail to notice the insanity until one puts it in the plain terms above. The human race is suffering from an epidemic of mind virus encephalitis, the meme being the psychotic story in the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an. That data is transmitted into otherwise innocent brains acts like a molecular virus But the molecular virus transmits its destructive instructions to a brain cell by entering the cell nuclei, and actually rewriting the DNA. The meme complex is not a molecule or biological virus, but a defective computer software programme or computer virus. That causes the brain to form altered circuits that lead to altered patterns of thinking and behaviour.

Look at the results around the world of religion on behaviour. At least do some reading on meme complexes and mind viruses from others besides me. You deserve to know the truth for the sake of your children.

I realise that my ideas and those of Dawkins incite anger and hatred from strong believers. This is the reason why a vast majority of Americans hate atheists and naturalists. Try to not direct hate or anger at me but think about what I have posted. You are under no obligation.

Amergin

 

[c0de]

Now that China is becoming the World's only Superpower, I feel safe. I don't feel safe with fanatically religious America. Fanatically religious countries are always dangerous, and quick to use military force for immoral purposes.

I have been pro-Chinese for a long time. When the USA abandons most science research, it is comforting to know that the Chinese will pursue the advancement of science.

China isn't becoming a superpower.

Nor is it causing any advancement in Science. It is incapable of innovation.

Dr. Dawkins describes the meme process in which religious mind viruses implant mythology in the gullible brain.

Can you ask Dawkins how "religious mythology" is any different then the mythology of, say, thermodynamics?

What is the reason & rationality behind its laws?

Christianity is irrational, contradictory to known facts, self-contradictory,

Funny, that's basically what Einstein said of Quantum Mechanics

and frankly immoral if its bible is read with an open mind.

Where are you getting this word "immoral" from?

What's your frame of reference?

What's "morality" in your worldview?

It allows rubbish (religion) to be falsely recognised as rational by the analytical circuits.

Only idiots think religion is rational. There is nothing rational about religion. In fact, there is nothing truly "rational" about anything, not even rationality. Practically all of human reasoning is based on inductive reasoning, which is inherently irrational. But unfortunately, deductive reasoning is ultimately impossible, so we have no choice but to follow an inductive thought process. Hence the fall into empiricism, which is based on nothing but subjective sense experience.

Meme Complexes disrupt Neurocognitive Circuits like Computer Viruses on your PC.

Cute analogy... Do you have any empirical evidence to back it up? What are they "disrupting" exactly? What would have taken place had they not "infected" the mind? Can you show any causal relationship in neurocognition at all?

My hypothesis is based on .......

How are you going to scientifically test the predictions of this "hypothesis"?

The first thing you'll have to do is define the word "religion"...

So go ahead, the floor is yours

I realise that my ideas and those of Dawkins incite anger and hatred from strong believers.

hmmm, i must not be a "strong believer" then

cuz i think people like you and dawkins are just adorable.

 

[iBrian]

Amergin, if you're not interested in learning about different faith viewpoints, then why are you here?

All you're spouting is material hatred of people for thinking differently, and quoting a lot of extreme and flat out wrong assertions - not least claiming religion has been the major driver of war. Read some 20th century history and you might get a context as to why that's wrong, specifically WWI, WWII, and the Cold War and its effects.

 

[Amergin]

China isn't becoming a superpower.

Nor is it causing any advancement in Science. It is incapable of innovation.

China is already a superpower. The USA is deeply in debt to China. Saying it is incapable of innovation smells of racism.

Where are you getting this word "immoral" from?

Immortality is acts that deliberately cause harm to another. Typical examples of immorality are murder, genocide, violent vengeance in excess of reason, killing people for different beliefs, killing one's own people for trying to hold on to ancient beliefs (Golden Calf Story), degradation of women, and senseless mass murder of a million million animals in the Mythical Flood.

What's your frame of reference?

Intuitive morality. Killing when not in self-defence is wrong. Genocide of a people (Canaanites) to take their land is intuitively immoral, violent infanticide is intuitively wrong, rape is intuitively wrong.

What's "morality" in your worldview?

No aggressive unprovoked wars
No bashing babies against the rocks for any reason.
No genocide of an entire people.
No attacking defenceless cities and killing everyone.
No killing of all adults, children, babies but keeping virgins as sex slaves.
No biological warfare (Egyptian Plagues).
No killing of people who try to change religion.
Torture of Job by an egotistical tyrant god.
The above and more is documented in the Evil Old Testament.

Cute analogy... Do you have any empirical evidence to back it up? What are they "disrupting" exactly? What would have taken place had they not "infected" the mind? Can you show any causal relationship in neurocognition at all?

Research from Britain, America, France, Germany, China, Japan has shown that the brain is not a static structure but one which changes its circuits when knowledge is added, memes induced, and actual reproduction of neurons which was not known 40 years ago. Our brains have many different circuits for various neurocognitive functions, motor, perceptual, visual, auditory, etc.

This has been demonstrated by actual mapping of the circuits when performing given mental tasks. This is demonstrated by PET scanning, Functional MRI, Tensor Detrusser Imaging, Single Fibre mapping, Transcortical Magnetic Stimulus, and by necropsy of brains from patients who suffered strokes, tumours, and epilepsy that affected thinking and behaviour. All of this is well documented in hundreds of articles in respected science and medical journals. If you choose to reject science, then there is no discussion with you possible. Some people may not be able to understand complex scientific processes while other would rather wallow in the muck and urine of the pig sty of mythology and superstition.

How are you going to scientifically test the predictions of this "hypothesis"?

Many different universities have done testing on patients with various neurological disorders confirming the well established findings of neuropathology, neuroimaging, and brain autopsy findings.

The first thing you'll have to do is define the word "religion"...

So go ahead, the floor is yours

Mythology is the belief in imaginary entities like angels, gods, demons, goblins, faeries, and magical actions often solicited by ritual or prayer.

Mythological beliefs grouped into an organisation with authorative leaders, rules, penalties, and propagation of fear and hatred of those not in the Organisation. That is religion.

Amergin

 

[c0de]

China is already a superpower.

Can it project power across the world?

Can it even deal with the Japanese Navy in the South China Sea?

The USA is deeply in debt to China.

Really?

Then why can't it dump its US bonds?

Why isn't the Yuan the world's reserve currency?

Saying it is incapable of innovation smells of racism.

I guess businessweek is racist too then?

Obstacles To Innovation In China And India

Intuitive morality. Killing when not in self-defence is wrong.

How does this view qualify as scientific?

"intuitive" according to who, exactly?

This is what people like you and Sam Harris fail to understand. Using terms like "self-defense" doesn't mean anything because their definitions are political and completely subjective.

Immortality [sic] is acts that deliberately cause harm to another.

Contradiction

You allow self-defense, but disallow one from deliberately causing harm to another. But when one acts in self-defense they have to cause harm to the other, in order to defend themselves.

Research from Britain, America, France, Germany, China, Japan has shown that the brain is not a static structure but one which changes its circuits when knowledge is added, memes induced, and actual reproduction of neurons which was not known 40 years ago. Our brains have many different circuits for various neurocognitive functions, motor, perceptual, visual, auditory, etc.

How does this support your hypothesis that the changes qualify as "disruptions" and "infections" of the brain?

Please cite your sources so I can check where the researchers used these words to describe the changes.

Many different universities have done testing on patients with various neurological disorders confirming the well established findings of neuropathology, neuroimaging, and brain autopsy findings.

Again, which of these studies show that religion qualifies as an "infection" of the mind?

In fact, the cognitive theory of religion has argued that religion is a product of mankind's higher cognitive capabilities. It is a product of our evolution, which means that irreligious attitudes are literally animalistic.

Mythology is the belief in imaginary entities like angels, gods, demons, goblins, faeries, and magical actions often solicited by ritual or prayer.

So basically, you're saying religion is irrational, correct?

Gotcha.

Now answer my question (which you ignored):

"How is "religious mythology" any different then the mythology of, say, thermodynamics? What is the reason & rationality behind its laws?"

and propagation of fear and hatred of those not in the Organisation.

Seems like the same world Dawkins and Harris want to bring about.

 

[c0de]

p.s.

correction, i meant "east china sea" here:

Can it even deal with the Japanese Navy in the South China Sea?