[Avodah] religious scientists?

Zev Sero zev at sero.name
Thu Sep 20 10:51:33 PDT 2018


On 20/09/18 03:18, Rich, Joel via Avodah wrote:
> Assume that “surveys” show that the percentage of “top” (TBD) scientists 
> who consider themselves religious is dramatically lower than that of a 
> similar demographic of non-top scientists (and non-scientists). How 
> would one go about explaining the causes of this differential 
> theoretically and then testing the theory?

I would be wondering whether some aspect of the same extremely skeptical 
personality that makes a person tend toward atheism also helps him 
succeed at the sciences.

I would also be looking at that "TBD" you left open, i.e. the definition 
of "top" scientists, which is controlled almost entirely by subjective 
factors, including bias against open religiosity.  IOW a scientist who 
is openly religious will tend (consciously or not) to be thought of by 
his less-talented peers as not a real scientist, and thus will be rated 
as "not top".

-- 
Zev Sero            A prosperous and healthy 5779 to all
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper


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