In this interview, 2016 Christian Scholars’ Foundation Grant Recipient Carrie Bredow describes the psychology research she’s carrying out with the grant and talks about how her faith and academic work interact. For more information about the Christian Scholars’ Foundation Grant, see this post. Applications are closed for 2018 are open, click here to learn more. [Read more…] about Interview: 2016 Christian Scholars’ Foundation Grant Recipient Carrie Bredow
social sciences
Science Corner: Science & Faith Around the World
As an American, I can readily find places where science and religion intersect. We’re in the midst of a presidential election cycle where the influence of candidates’ religious beliefs on their perspective of scientific topics is fodder for discussion, research from Pew and others on science and religion questions regularly makes headlines, and we have multiple museums dedicated to religiously motivated alternatives to mainstream science. The abundance of American voices can make it challenging to remember that America is not the world. Helpfully, a new study has been published which surveyed scientists from 8 countries around the world, asking them about their views of religion. You can read the results here, or watch a talk about them below.
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Does “real thinking” reduce religious belief? [Updated]
Last week, one of The Atlantic‘s Study of the Day articles spurred a lively conversation on our Facebook Wall. To give you a sense of the study, see the following tweet, which I hope was the result of sloppy nonexistent copy-editing.
Even the religious lose faith when they take time to really think: theatln.tc/IdpELp #StudyoftheDay by @hansvillarica
— TheAtlantic/Health (@TheAtlanticHLTH) April 30, 2012
(Unfortunately, one can’t simply assume that poor editing can be blamed for this laughable tweet, because The Atlantic – once a reliable bastion of religion reporting in the secular media – has fallen on hard times. Witness, for example, this atrocious and error-ridden article about Invisible Children’s Kony2012 campaign, which GetReligion dissected a few weeks ago. How bad was the article? It describes Mark Driscoll as an “Emerging Liberal.”)
The study, of course, was not at all about “real thinking,” but about analytical thinking, which is one mode of thinking out of many. The study doesn’t surprise me. In Dan and Chip Heath’s book Made to Stick, they examine the impact of analytical thinking on charitable giving, and it’s not good. There’s a reason why charity campaigns use stories and not logical arguments.
While I’m not surprised at they study, I’m also not too troubled by it. The poorly written tweet – “real thinking reduces religious belief” – gets the nature of thinking wrong, but I think the study coverage of the study gets the nature of religious belief wrong, too. Further, when considering claims of ultimate truth – whether religious or otherwise – one ought to be skeptical. Greater skepticism could have prevented many tragic decisions over the years. Skepticism, however, should not be our permanent position on every article of belief. There are things worth believing in with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Analysis is not the only way of thinking
There is a reason why we don’t plan romantic evenings around math conferences. Or try to teach a child to ride a bike with an explanation of rotational velocity. Analytical thinking is important and valuable, but it’s not the only way of thinking. Sometimes, it’s completely inappropriate to the situation and counterproductive.
For example, consider the act of writing. It’s extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to write anything of length while simultaneously editing yourself for spelling and grammar mistakes, much less fact-checking your claims as you write them. There’s a reason why they’re called “rough drafts.” If your goal is to write 500 words on your dissertation this morning, you’ll have to abandon the analytical mode of thinking for a while.
Analysis, in the wrong circumstance, can even be life-threatening. There’s a reason why trauma surgeons spend so many years increasing their knowledge and honing their skills. When the victims from a near-fatal car accident arrive in the OR, it’s time to act, not to analyze, except in the most basic where-is-this-blood-coming-from way. The rapid, intuitive response of a trained professional is not the absence of “real thinking” — it’s the pinnacle of thinking. [Read more…] about Does “real thinking” reduce religious belief? [Updated]
You never hear apologists attacking Melville…
Does your choice of undergraduate major affect your religious faith? Inside Higher Ed recently reported on a study by Miles S. Kimball, Colter M. Mitchell, Arland D. Thornton and Linda C. Young-Demarco, all of U. Michigan, that asked that very question. Using data from the long-running Monitoring the Future study, Kimball et al. tracked the religiosity of college students (based on how frequently they attended religious services and how important they viewed religion in their lives, along with some secondary indicators) to see how their choice of college major affected them.
Photo: Campus map of Minnesota St.-Moorhead by xavierla, via Flickr. Did you ever choose a class based on how close it was to your dorm or parking lot? I never did, I swear.
What did they find? In (very) brief,
- Education or Business major increased religiosity.
- Humanities or Social Sciences major decreased religiosity.
- Biological or Physical* Sciences major had no effect on religiosity.
*Physical science majors showed a decrease in how important they viewed religion, but no change in how often they attended services. Biological sciences had no effect on religiosity. [Read more…] about You never hear apologists attacking Melville…