No problem. My Mom is very religious and my Dad has Asperger's so I tend to be a great diplomat. But, these type of scientific insights into psychology are awesome when they come out. Especially, in my case where I can see that it hit's the nail dead on.

I think we underestimate our physical imposed mental limitations too much. Everything we've learned about modern psychology tells us that our psychology is in a "ready" state when we're born; to the extent that you could say one person uses "ATI" to see and the other "Nvidia" if you know what I mean.

In reply to this comment by SDGundamX:
Sweet, thanks for the info.

In reply to this comment by kceaton1:
>> ^SDGundamX:

>> ^westy:
I think what this video inadvertantly highlights is that Education is directly tied with atheism the more intellectual/educated sum-one is the harder it is for them to believe in bullshit and the more likely it is they will do things based on facts of reality to improve reality.

You should check out this study, which basically shows that isn't the case. The high proportion of atheist scientists compared to the general population seems to be a function of upbringing (i.e. they were raised in homes that didn't place much importance on religion). The increased education seems to have little effect on those who enter the field with religious convictions. In other words, those raised in non-religious households seem to self-select disproportionately highly into the sciences. The study states that more investigation is required before coming to any conclusions as to why, but they didn't see any indication of people giving up their religious beliefs as they advanced in their education or career.


One interesting aspect coming out in psychological studies versus genetic backgrounds shows one interesting aspect of people that have Asperger's being unable to relate to religion and are constantly looking for a more rational explanation for any event. Likewise, some people may show an inclination to be religious via their genetics.

Most likely this is due to a preference in the way the brain decides to use information. Such as: the right hemisphere versus the left; or even to the extent of specific areas on one side--like math over chemistry.

This is VERY new information. Their was another study out on Friday I believe (look for it at physorg.com) that showed that people that were religious tended to be more healthy both mentally and physically. However, the study (from what I could find) doesn't really say whether they took the disparity of between population numbers into account. Also they never took into account situations like autistic savants, Asperger's, bi-polar, and other conditions that tend to "create" extremely smart people (I'm guessing this might happen as they tend to favor the left hemisphere and also have a very different perspective than a normal healthy average human--giving them "fresh eyes" and a new perception intrinsically), comparatively.

>> ^SDGundamX:

>> ^westy:
I think what this video inadvertantly highlights is that Education is directly tied with atheism the more intellectual/educated sum-one is the harder it is for them to believe in bullshit and the more likely it is they will do things based on facts of reality to improve reality.

You should check out this study, which basically shows that isn't the case. The high proportion of atheist scientists compared to the general population seems to be a function of upbringing (i.e. they were raised in homes that didn't place much importance on religion). The increased education seems to have little effect on those who enter the field with religious convictions. In other words, those raised in non-religious households seem to self-select disproportionately highly into the sciences. The study states that more investigation is required before coming to any conclusions as to why, but they didn't see any indication of people giving up their religious beliefs as they advanced in their education or career.


One interesting aspect coming out in psychological studies versus genetic backgrounds shows one interesting aspect of people that have Asperger's being unable to relate to religion and are constantly looking for a more rational explanation for any event. Likewise, some people may show an inclination to be religious via their genetics.

Most likely this is due to a preference in the way the brain decides to use information. Such as: the right hemisphere versus the left; or even to the extent of specific areas on one side--like math over chemistry.

This is VERY new information. Their was another study out on Friday I believe (look for it at physorg.com) that showed that people that were religious tended to be more healthy both mentally and physically. However, the study (from what I could find) doesn't really say whether they took the disparity between population numbers into account. Also they never took into account situations like autistic savants, Asperger's, bi-polar, and other conditions that tend to "create" extremely smart people, comparatively(I'm guessing this might happen as they tend to favor the left hemisphere and also have a very different perspectives than your normal healthy average human--giving them "fresh eyes" and a new perception intrinsically).

This video is definitely made to provoke. I don't necessarily like how it does it and I'm atheist. While I disagree with religion in any capacity where it wants to use faith/belief to solve a situation instead of the logical tried and true method, that is where I draw a line in the sand (like Creationism; it's useless to us in every aspect: it explains nothing, is useless in practice, and assumes everything). Religion doesn't necessarily bother me when it's used in a social setting. The only time this isn't true is when it crosses the "religion/state" barrier and rights of others; as is the case for many gay people. I know a lot of religious people that sit on a logical side of the fence and many that sit on the other side and try to (in my estimation) usurp the rights of others for poor reasons and in fact religious ones (state vs. religion again).

Lot's of the religious people (I'm in Utah so I know my situation is semi-unique) I know that refute many logical tenets, like evolution, tend to do so in a way that shows they are INCREDIBLY insecure when it comes to "smarts". I've had some people tell me they belong to MENSA and in the same sentence tell me evolution is fraud and it should be obvious as to why this is true (they usually have no "logical" reason to explain why this is true other than faith; I have yet to hear a good reason...). This may also be an indication that even in religion there is a disparity between other religious people and that it may even be a psychological/physical condition that causes it via genetics.

It would be a new world if you could wager whether someone is religious or not, before they are even born. To me that is a game changer, but to others I know they will not see why that is true.

/edit

man, I said it before, and I remember the last time I did,( above here and I'll say it again) yer the cat's,fucking meow, ya need to pull out all the stops and start spreading your art around....I would venture to guess, that you resemble one of the following...

1.Autistic savant
2.NSA or clearance there and above, chumming for familiars or recruits..
C.clocking 6 figs and/or, 17 years of age and fully capable of more..

Prove me wrong baby, you need to be training school children how to survive a ride Inna centrifuge!

I love everything about Dragon Age: the level of polish, the gender equality, the autistic savant dwarf, the level of difficulty (started on Normal, at LVL 20 atm and cranked it up to Hard), the dialogue (hadn't actually laughed at anything an NPC in any game would say in years), the darker parts (oh and there are a few). I even love the, let's be honest, somewhat outdated graphics, because my PC is actually able to run it on max settings. I love how the game doesn't have the massive, frequent memory leaks ME had. I haven't even played MW2 because of how much I enjoy it. Clocked 60 hours and I'm only at 46%, having done all side quests that have been thrown at me so far, I am loving it, and so is my wife. Thanks so much for the quality entertainment, CrushBug

Incidentally, the Sift has some great videos on autistic savants:
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-original-Rain-man-savant-autism
http://www.videosift.com/video/kim-peek-the-inspiration-for-rain-man-remembers-EVERYTHING
http://www.videosift.com/video/daniel-tammet-sees-numbers-in-his-head-to-100-decimal-places
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-perfect-memory-Kim-Peek-autistic-savant
http://www.videosift.com/video/Daniel-Tammet-savant-Charms-David-Letterman

It really is annoying that, because of Rain Man, the average person holds the misconception that autistic = autistic savant.

>> ^Fusionaut:
I'm not so sure "curing" autism is such a great idea. Some people with autism go on to do great things.

The autistic spectrum is quite varied. Some people with with Aspergers or mild autism can be very functional. Some autistic savants can even have incredible abilities, but those cases are exceedingly rare.

Most people with autism suffer from developmental delays and mental retardation, and it is quite a devastating disease for families. I remember seeing this one little girl with severe autism who had a broken jaw because she would hit herself in the face ~30 000 times a day (they actually counted).

>> ^berticus:
i am a big wuss, part 5 made me cry


I didn't last past part 1