but I am not sure if IQ does. With higher education, we are taught to think differently and to work with more abstract concepts. This can cause us to look more closely at everything, including religion. The closer we look at religion, the more we see the holes in it. It is probably true of people with higher IQ's as well, since they usually are better at critical thinking.

I have seen these study before, as I can get rather smug about it, but I am not sure if I believe that all people who are believers are not as smart or educated as I am.

in order to catch on that it's conditioning, not truth.

If you're born in an Islamic country, you're not gonna be catholic.

Add that to the fact that there are dozens of major religions, and they all believe they're right, and doubt is unavoidable.

After that,the doubt is fed by the utter ridiculousness of all religions, and voila! Another atheist.

But, there will always be smart people who will forgo critical thinking out of desperate need for all those religious payoffs: reincarnation, and reunification with parents, etc.

Many scientific discoveries have, however. In different locations, different cultures, different times.

Let's not forget the smart people, too, who have discarded belief in gods for themselves, but condescendingly treat believers as if they couldn't ever possibly go without their religion, and so attempt to bully any other non-believers who speak out against it.

When I looked at all the religions of the world, it seemed that there was no way to know which one was the "right" one. Then you move to realization that the only reason you are Christian is because of where you live.

I cannot say that people who refuse to think beyond what they are told are not smart, but you probably have it right. There is a lot to be had from keeping belief if you can overlook the holes. I am not able to do that. Voila! Another atheist!

evidence that atheists are unlikely to be correct in their assessments because, gee, MOST humans belief in a supernatural being or being who is all-powerful (or at least quite powerful indeed).

However, recently I've started to ponder whether belief in some sort of deity/deities might have evolved as an evolutionary advantage, or at least the outgrowth of a brain that is developed enough to expect a superior place in the universe for such an intelligent creature as the homo sapiens (and perhaps neanderthals and other previous advanced primates). It seems that a lot of humans are desperate to believe that they are special and exulted in this universe -- in fact, we humans who have lived on this little planet in the last couple thousands years out of many billions of years are the very FOCUS of the deity/creator of the universe (at least for many Christians, Jews, and Muslims), therefore we are and not just another run-of-the-mill carbon-based life form. We are the chosen species, we are special, and we will live forever in an enviable afterlife.

That's what humans like to believe, at any rate, and perhaps this belief in their own special place in the universe as God's Own Favorite keeps them going in the daily scramble for food, water and shelter and then beyond that in the fight for status and wealth.

you can't blame us for wishing for divine intervention.

That's how you separate believers from atheists: Atheists hope without going as far as investing.Believers invest in the magic when going it alone is too bewildering.
in my opinion.

Believers suffer an imaginary loss if they're wrong. Hence, the pressure for the atheists to conform.imo.