Comments on Epiphenom: Atheists are unhappy? Really?

Hi Diane, I agree it's complex, but I think that t...

2009-04-27T22:43:00.000+01:00

Hi Diane, I agree it's complex, but I think that the causes of overrepresentation of men among the irreligious are largely cultural. If you're interested, I did a 4-part series on this last month (starting here).

But as to the CFI thing, I suspect that CFI (as opposed to atheism in general) attracts people who are less agreeable (i.e. more willing to stand up and say that they disagree with you). Which may mean more men!

The reasons women are over-represented amongst the...

2009-04-27T22:34:00.000+01:00

The reasons women are over-represented amongst the religious and under-represented amongst freethinkers are complex and poorly understood. Many of them I don't like to think about; but to "commit evolutionary psychology," I would suggest that they reflect in part various behavioral strategies that were adaptive for each sex over time...going back to pre-human social mammals...(Sigh.)

Good point Diane... but what is the direction of c...

2009-04-27T08:53:00.000+01:00

Good point Diane... but what is the direction of causality?

Galen's data also showed the CFI group to be much ...

2009-04-27T00:48:00.000+01:00

Galen's data also showed the CFI group to be much more male than the church group. I contend the sex ratio difference alone can explain the apparent "agreeableness" correlation...

Sabio, I get what you mean - they make the ...

2009-04-25T20:30:00.000+01:00

Sabio, I get what you mean - they make the decision and then rationalise it afterwards! That's probably true.

Charlotte: 'Agreeable' is part of the 'five...

2009-04-25T20:14:00.000+01:00

Charlotte: 'Agreeable' is part of the 'five factor model' of personality - which is these days is the most widely used. Here's a definition:

Agreeableness - One’s level of orientation towards other people.
Those who score high on this factor are usually co-operative, can be submissive, and are concerned with the well-being of others. People who score low on this factor may be challenging, competitive, sometimes even argumentative.

I've wanted to make a taxonomy of atheists. I won...

2009-04-25T01:58:00.000+01:00

I've wanted to make a taxonomy of atheists. I wonder how these stats change, depending on the subgroup. For example, you have atheists who:
1) rebelled from religious parents
2) were raised in a happy family of atheists
3) non-religious family but embraced a religion, only later became atheist
4) left their religion due to tragedy

Just to give a few examples.
Also, I'd imagine most people think the decided to become atheist but actually, they became atheist and their minds made up reasons why. (hmmm, I wonder how many people will follow that).

Is 'agreeable' really the right word in that conte...

2009-04-25T01:54:00.000+01:00

Is 'agreeable' really the right word in that context? From the description you give it sounds to me more like 'conciliatory'. But then I don't have a spare hour to listen to the podcast, maybe it's explained there.