Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average.

A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed.

But the conclusions - in a paper for the academic journal Intelligence - have been branded "simplistic" by critics.

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Why would comedians be atheists?

At Tiny Frog the question is asked: “Are comedians more likely to be atheist/agnostic?”

I’ve also wondered, why would so many comedians be atheists?

I have no empirical evidence for any of this, but here’s a few possible reasons:

They are relatively smart

They are widely read

They question everything

They see the funny side of things

They are quick witted

I think the way they look at the world and poke fun at it, lends them to look at religion and poke fun at it.

Tiny Frog’s site lists a few comedians, here’s a few more: Ross Noble, Paul McDermott. Any more?

What other jobs (beside sciences) lend themselves to have a higher proportion of atheists?

-- Oz Atheist's Weblog