Why Atheism does not make for increased intelligence:
Very profound revelation from Science!
"The neocortex, unique to humans, is strongly associated with language, reasoning and attention."
God on the Brain: The Neurobiology of Faith
Horses, Cows, Apes, Cats, Lizards, Rodents, et cetera, are Atheists. They do not possess the human brain to remotely conceive of a "God"'s existence. Only an idiot would try to preach of God to a horse, gorilla or insect. To even conceive in one's mind of "God" requires a neocortex (irregardless of what that "God" may be and whatever one's personal conclusions may be) require the neocortex (reasoning center of the brain).
So therefore, it is in itself evidence God, as a concept accompanies higher intelligence.
However, as Polgar concludes, "Religion does not make a difference..."
For as science has shown, "...These findings emphasize that intelligence in vertebrates does not necessarily rely on a neocortex but can be realized in endbrain circuitries that developed independently via convergent evolution."
Abstract rule neurons in the endbrain support intelligent behaviour in corvid songbirds
Circuitries in the brain are determining factors in intelligence, not one's religious belief or belief about God (the neocortex).
Judit Polgar: "Religion doesn't make a difference"
Judit Polgar is alleged to have an IQ of 170
The strongest female chess player in history, Polgar beat Bobby Fisher to become the youngest Grandmaster ever at 15 years, 5 months -- chess.com asserts she has an IQ of 170.
Polgar's father educated his three daughters at home with chess as the central subject. Judit is an International Master and her two sisters are Grandmasters.
The experiment belied the assumption that women were naturally weaker players, and strengthened the nurture over nature argument.
Age: 35
Nationality: Hungarian
Job: Chess Grandmaster, mother
The 19 Smartest People The World Has Ever Seen
"Religion doesn’t make a difference..."
If chess is implemented in schools as a mandatory subject, what are the advantages and benefits to society in general?
Chess is a language. Chess doesn’t make any distinction between a girl and a boy. Religion doesn’t make a difference, nor whether you’re rich or poor. You can also socialise with your parents and grandparents. Chess teaches you critical thinking, the ability to focus, logic, how to think ahead, a respect both for rules and for your opponent – and there are many more ways in which chess helps children and society.
Judit Polgar Interview
On that note... Religion doesn't make a difference. Although Judit Polgar is listed as Jewish. So please Atheists, get a life!!!! Obsessing on negative issues indicates some deeper emotional issue that should be addressed with a psychiatrist. No really. Obsession on NEGATIVE things leads to high blood pressure, weakened immunity and other unwanted health problems unless one is suicidal and wants to kill themselves at an early age, but that too is classified as mental issue. Every time I witness Atheists obsessed with stamping out religion, it is disturbing. I would say of all people I have ever acquainted or known of, Agnostics are the most happiest people. They are resigned to accept they cannot form an opinion on the "unknown" and don't care about it either, as they have many other enjoyable activities to engage in, friends, family and happiness.
I doubt Atheists got that. The words roll off the brain like water on a duck's back. They presume Judit Polgar's words, "Religion doesn't make a difference..." is inciting them to hack up forums with anti-religious rhetoric vandalism and hating on the religious. No, Atheists! Polgar meant what is written in black and white, please, *reading comprehension engaged* : "Religion doesn’t make a difference..." Judit Polgar means Religion is indifferent, irrelevant, a non-issue... caput... casper... nada... it does not make a difference... like totally, try to live and let live...
Polgar speaks more like an Agnostic (her words are spoken as one who is chilled out, relaxed, happy, enjoying her life), not filled with angst and obsessing over stamping out the lifestyles of others, but very focused on enjoying her own life, and having a truly worthwhile life beyond their keyboard warrior campaign against the religious), and just don't care about religion. Period. Indifferent. Irrelevant. They have a life beyond obsessing over things they cannot explain, and prefer channeling all that mental energy into sharpening their chess game.
Speaking of what makes high intelligence? Well, Judit Polgar defeated Bobby Fischer, the famed world chess champ. Fischer had Asperger's Syndrome and also born Jewish. So perhaps his genius was a result of one or the other, Jewish birth or the autism spectrum disorder (Asperger's Syndrome is typically symptomatic of highly focused interest on one specific topic of interest) in Fisher's case, he was absolutely, unequivocally obsessed with Chess.
And a moment to consider Bill Gates, the computer industry innovator and founder of Microsoft who was notably diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as well. Well, its apparent Non-Belief and Religion, as Polgar put it "...doesn’t make a difference..." But being born with Asperger's Syndrome, or on the Autism Spectrum, like Temple Grandin who believes in God, can make one exceptionally intelligent and focused on their game, like Polgar, Gates or Fisher.
Atheists bedeck themselves in stolen plummage. Charles Darwin, like Judit Polgar shared the sentiment that "Religion doesn't make a difference." Darwin is credited with revolutionizing science, well, it wasn't his Atheism to thank... Nooooo, but you can thank his Autism!!!
Charles Darwin had autism, leading psychiatrist claims
Charles Darwin probably had a form of autism called Asperger's syndrome which is related to creativity and originality, a leading psychiatrist claims.
by Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor, 12:01AM GMT 18 Feb 2009
Darwin, the author of On the Origin of Species which sets out the theory of natural selection, had an extraordinary attention to detail but had difficulties with social interaction, according to Prof Michael Fitzgerald of Dublin's Trinty College.
Prof Fitzgerald believes that Darwin, who was born on Feb 12, 200 years ago, was suffering from a behavioural disorder.
Today he will tell the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Academic Psychiatry, and says Darwin was probably suffering from Asperger's syndrome.
Prof Fitzgerald said: "It is suggested that the same genes that produce autism and Asperger's syndrome are also responsible for great creativity and originality.
"Asperger's syndrome gave Darwin the capacity to hyperfocus, the extra capacity for persistence, the enormous ability to see detail that other people missed, the endless energy for a lifetime dedication to a narrow task, and the independence of mind so critical to original research."
On that snippet, Atheists are left scrambling to rationalize in their mind how their view on religion makes a difference... but instead, there's only a big fat blank... what? Atheism failed to make them one wit wiser!?! envious, disillusioned and disgruntled because, Sorry! Intelligence is governed by brain cells and their circuits... not one's silly personal "belief about religion!" Without those brain cells, you wouldn't even have a belief!
Despite the lack of a layered neocortex and fundamental differences in endbrain organization in birds compared with mammals, intelligent species evolved from both vertebrate classes. Among birds, corvids show exceptional cognitive flexibility. Here we explore the neuronal foundation of corvid cognition by recording single-unit activity from an association area known as the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) while carrion crows make flexible rule-guided decisions, a hallmark of executive control functions. The most prevalent activity in NCL represents the behavioural rules, while abstracting over sample images and sensory modalities of the rule cues. Rule coding is weaker in error trials, thus predicting the crows’ behavioural decisions. This suggests that the abstraction of general principles may be an important function of the NCL, mirroring the function of primate prefrontal cortex. These findings emphasize that intelligence in vertebrates does not necessarily rely on a neocortex but can be realized in endbrain circuitries that developed independently via convergent evolution.
Abstract rule neurons in the endbrain support intelligent behaviour in corvid songbirds
Asperger's Syndrome is a genetic "disorder" that often leads to abnormally high intelligence, and unimitable focus on one or more pet topics, and sometimes lends to what people may call "absolute genius." So Atheists!!! please stop stealing the glory away from Asperger's Syndrome, and bedecking the glory on that silly philosophy of atheism! It's worthless philosophy.
Opportunities to sharpen one's innate human potential, one's talents and gifts, make a difference. Education makes a difference. Religion does not. Freedom makes a difference.
Atheists really sooooo need to get a life and "get over it." Hike a mountain or walk the beach! Go to a park and meet new people. Try even going to some Universalist denomination church... meet people, make new friends, if its even remotely possible, TRY to enjoy life! By God! Find some interest to constitute a life beyond the internet!!! Restore a classic vehicle, or produce a fine piece of art, record an upbeat, inspirational song that will inspire others toward positive thoughts. Take a vitamin C. Exercise. Do something with your life, instead of obsessively hacking on people who have a spiritual outlook, that's THEIR life, not yours to dictate! Then again, perhaps some are so militantly religious in their atheism, for good or ill and having ZERO LIFE BEYOND ATHEISM (*ack* Oooo, so religious!! *ack* *ack*) they can't live beyond eating, sleeping, and crapping the religious thunder, obsessing on religion until its a sickness, because they have no boasting rights in any other topic or area of their life... or perhaps its just that certain atheists sub-consciously and secretly love and admonish those little Demigod-slash-Demagogue dictators?
Thought-provoking to ponder.
The evolution of intelligence (as the research concludes) is not restricted to humans. Through convergent evolution, birds have acquired and possess an innate intelligence. Dolphins are often praised as highly intelligent. Numerous animals exhibit traits that outdo humans on many levels in regard to "intelligence".
However, dolphins and crows lack the human neocortex. They also lack a belief in God. They lack the "new brain," "modern brain" or "human brain" and through it, the neocortex, humans are able to grasp, wrap their mind around and understand the God concept. It is PHILOSOPHY.
INTELLIGENCE itself is removed, unrelated to a belief in God one way or the other, and INTELLIGENCE has nothing to do with a lack of belief. So whilst a mentally retarded person can often understand the basic concept of "God is love," or a genius Cattle expert like Temple Grandin confirm her belief in God, or a dumb animal that is born and dies atheist due to its inability to conceive of God's existence, or be it the highly intelligent Stephen Hawking that claims he is atheist... the neocortex offers only one advantage in this regard. It enables the human to grasp the concept of God.
An animal cannot.
Intelligence itself is irrelated to such beliefs as it relies primarily on brain circuitry.
Conversion to atheism will have zero effect on ever increasing one's IQ or altering their brain circuitry; their human potential, their fate, their path in life or otherwise, to any significant degree. Some are born to become chess grandmasters, a prodigy of musical arts, talented painters, gifted writers whilst others genetically predispositioned to never succeed at making any signficant achievement throughout their entire lifetime, irregardless of their religion or their lack of belief. All the access in the world will not make them one wit more intelligent; creative, innovative, reasoning outside the box. Genetically speaking, they are predispositioned at birth to excel to an IQ of 75, or an IQ of 100, or an IQ of 120 and less common, an IQ of 170 as is claimed of Judit Polgar.
The same region of the brain that makes it possible to grasp the God concept and for the human to reason the existence of God, is the same region that makes it possible for an atheist to still grasp the God concept and to "rationalize away" why God does not exist in his/her own mind. However, all this philosophizing does not contribute to any increased intelligence. To assume it does, is a delusion. It is empty words, as even the religious would admit, most God concepts are supposedly to be about a "personal relationship" with God vs. a mass movement. Therefore to each his own opinion on the matter of God and religion. Live and let live.
Intelligence is determined by brain circuitry, and not exclusively attributed to the neocortex. Asperger's Syndrome, which likely gifted Charles Darwin with the brain wiring necessary for acute attention to detail and hyperfocus on specialized areas in zoology and biology from which he derived his theory, is a case study for neuropsychology, NOT the philosophy of Atheism. As for Atheism, Charles Darwin only expressed his LACK of interest in it! Religion was of no interest to Charles Darwin.
There are many creatures, far more gifted with wit and intellect far above that of humans, gifted at solving puzzles or abstract thinking, which relate directly to their high intelligence.
The neocortex (exclusive to humans) enables people to reason, and that includes the unique ability to conceive the God concept.
The neocortex itself, is not responsible for intelligence, it is merely what makes us "human."
Therefore, philosophize as they may,
by night or by day,
NOT one wit intelligent or wiser,
have they through Atheism ...been made!
Atheism can not make them more intelligent, no more than converting to Atheism could ever predisposition them to possess the skill or intelligence to beat Judit Polgar in a chess match!!!
