Gene Expression bloggers razib and godless were bored, so they plotted and graphed "religion important" vs. IQ for different countries.  If you're in the mood, you can add the population data and have a real math fest.  The bottom line: "religion and IQ are strongly negatively correlated (-.886)."

Remember my missive about correlation vs. causality?  We're not entitled to conclude causality from these data, but there are three possibilities:

1. Considering religion important lowers measured IQ (unlikely, since IQ is substantially genetic whereas belief is not).
2. The causality is via other factors not considered, such as socio-economic conditions, cultural history, or physical environment (definitely possible).
3. Having a higher measured IQ lowers your likelihood of considering religion important (my personal favorite, given the absence of evidence to the contrary).

Please note: these are data, not opinion.  (The sources are noted in razib's and godless' posts.)  Possible interpretations of the data are opinion, of course.

These data lend credence to the implied correlation between the definitions of bright :)

© 2003-2009 Ole Eichhorn