Beth Benoit writes on belief in a deity: >Another interesting thought, proposed by Christopher Hitchens in >his newest book, *Arguably: Essays*, is that people are more likely >to say they're atheists now because there's more access to different >points of view and information (via the internet) than there was before. >I imagine it must have been a lonely business being an atheist in the >"old days."
>I'm much more aware of many people being comfortable saying they're >atheists or agnostics. I don't think this was true in earlier decades, at >least not in my experience. Writing from the other side of the pond, I've always been bemused by the differences between the United States and northern Europe on this issue. Two of the three leaders of the main political Parties in the UK are atheist/agnostic, but this simply wasn't an issue in the general election in 2010. It is inconceivable that this would be the case in the States. On the article in question http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-ofp-shenhav.pdf one thing that is not covered is the huge difference between those who believe in a deity as the original creator of the universe and nothing more, and those who believe in a deity who/which is concerned with individual human lives. I would say that the former are a lot closer to agnostics than to the latter. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [email protected] http://www.esterson.org ------------------------------------------------------------ [tips] intuition = belief in a higher being Beth Benoit Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:16:05 -0700 A new paper in the Journal of Experimental Psychology http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-ofp-shenhav.pdf proposes that those who think intuitively (" For the purposes of this study, intuition is thought of as the tendency to rely on first instincts and to reach decisions quickly and then stick by them.") are more likely to say they believe in the existence of God than those who have a reflective style of thinking "(Reflection, on the other hand, is a slower process that involves questioning initial instincts and looking at a wider range of alternatives.") Another interesting thought, proposed by Christopher Hitchens in his newest book, *Arguably: Essays*, is that people are more likely to say they're atheists now because there's more access to different points of view and information (via the internet) than there was before. I imagine it must have been a lonely business being an atheist in the "old days." I'm much more aware of many people being comfortable saying they're atheists or agnostics. I don't think this was true in earlier decades, at least not in my experience. Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=12839 or send a blank email to leave-12839-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
