Few differences between atheists and believers

I confess to be an agnostic in terms of religious belief. I would like to be a believer, but I ain’t. Because of this, I am fascinated by a multinational survey conducted jointly by the Vatican and various leading universities.

“The global Understanding Unbelief Program to advance the Scientific Understanding of Atheism and Nonreligion” presented its findings earlier in the week.

What the researchers say: The multidisciplinary research program maps the nature and diversity of 'unbelief' across six countries including Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, UK and the USA.

Researchers asked about attitudes to issues like supernatural phenomena, such as ‘life after death and astrology’, ‘whether the universe is ultimately meaningless' and ‘what values matter most to them’. They used internationally recognized terms to identify unbelievers—atheists (i.e., people who 'don't believe in God') and agnostics (i.e., people who 'don't know whether there is a God or not, and ‘don't believe there is a way to find out').

Key findings from their research include:

• Unbelievers exhibit significant diversity both within, and between, different countries
• In all six countries, majorities of unbelievers identify as having 'no religion'
• Relatively few select 'atheist' or 'agnostic' as their preferred (non)religious or secular identity
• Popular assumptions about 'convinced, dogmatic atheists' do not stand up to scrutiny
• Unbelief in God doesn't necessarily entail unbelief in other supernatural phenomena. The majority of unbelievers in all countries surveyed expressed belief in one or more supernatural phenomena
• A common supposition—that of the purposeless unbeliever, lacking anything to ascribe ultimate meaning to the universe—does not bear scrutiny
• Most unbelievers endorse objective moral values, human dignity and attendant rights, and the 'deep value' of nature, at similar rates to the general populations in their countries
• Unbelievers and general populations show high agreement concerning the values most important for 'finding meaning in the world and your own life'. 'Family' and 'freedom' ranked highly for all.

Speaking about the research project, the lead author said: “These findings show once and for all that the public image of the atheist is a simplification at best, and a gross caricature at worst. Instead of relying on assumptions about what it means to be an atheist, we can now work with a real understanding of the many different worldviews that the atheist population includes. The implications for public and social policy are substantial—and this study also stands to impact on more everyday interactions in religiously diverse societies.”

The co-author added: "Our data directly counters common stereotypes about unbelievers. A common view of unbelievers is that they lack a sense of objective morality and purpose but possess an arrogant confidence and a very different set of values from the rest of the population. Our representative data across six diverse countries show that none of this is true. In a time when our societies seem to be growing more and more polarized, it has been both interesting and encouraging to see that one of the supposed big divides in human life (believers vs. unbelievers) may not be so big after all.”

So, what? One of the things that was discovered in 2012 is there is no particular area of the brain devoted to religion or belief per se. No “god-spot.”  Spirituality, yes—the posterior superior parietal lobe (PSPL), which is concerned with our sense of ourselves in time and space. In meditation, the action of the PSPL induces a reduced sense of self and an increase in the sense of our connectedness to something like “all there is.”

Since this has little to do with religion and more to do with neurogenetics, it is unsurprising that “atheists” and “theists” have a lot in common besides their differing theological belief systems. Atheism and theism are both irrational beliefs which can’t be proved scientifically.