Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

[LeftishBrit]

11. I think that the main reason is that both are related to education

There is a relationship in both directions between IQ and education: people with higher IQs are more likely to become highly educated, and education is likely to increase IQ. Education also of course increases the chance of professional success.

More highly educated people are more likely to be atheists. This does not mean that education directly turns you into an atheist, but it is likely to lead to your meeting and hearing of a wider variety of people, and being exposed to a wider variety of possible belief systems. Most people in the world probably never get much exposure to any religion other than that practiced by their own social group, let alone atheism. Education makes people more familiar with a variety of possibilities.

Thus, I doubt that intelligence causes atheism, or that 'success' reduces the need for religion. Rather, education increases and is increased by IQ, and also makes atheism more of a possibility.