Ghosts and Aliens are more popular than God in UK
Offline Who would have thunk it.
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/081124-britain-supernatural.html
More people believe in aliens and ghosts than in God, a new survey finds, according to a British newspaper.
The survey, however, was done by a marketing firm in conjunction with the release of an X-Files DVD, and details of how the poll was conducted were not reported in the Daily Mail. Survey questions, depending on how they are written, can greatly skew results, along with how subjects are sampled.
That said, the poll of 3,000 people found that 58 percent believe in the supernatural, including paranormal encounters, while 54 percent believe God exists. Women were more likely than men to believe in the supernatural and were also more likely to visit a medium.
Indeed, humans are prone to believing in things they can neither see nor find logical evidence for.
A survey of U.S. college students done in 2006 found 23 percent of freshmen had a general belief in paranormal concepts — from astrology to communicating with the dead. Interestingly, the number jumped to 31 percent among seniors and 34 percent among graduate students.
Researchers who have compared various human belief systems say our tendency to believe is deeply rooted.
"While it is difficult to know for certain, the tendency to believe in the paranormal appears to be there from the beginning," said Christopher Bader, a Baylor University sociologist. "What changes is the content of the paranormal. For example, very few people believe in faeries and elves these days. But as belief in faeries faded, other beliefs, such as belief in UFOs, emerged to take their place."
Religion and belief in the paranormal are not linked as one might imagine. A handful of surveys show just the opposite, in fact.
"Paranormal beliefs are very strongly negatively related to religious belief," said Rod Stark, another Baylor researcher. Some scientists think this is so because religions tend to discourage paranormal beliefs, and indeed most devout practitioners of a religion have been shown to be the least likely to believe in Bigfoot, ghosts or aliens.
A survey of U.S. college students done in 2006 found 23 percent of freshmen had a general belief in paranormal concepts — from astrology to communicating with the dead. Interestingly, the number jumped to 31 percent among seniors and 34 percent among graduate students.
Researchers who have compared various human belief systems say our tendency to believe is deeply rooted.
"While it is difficult to know for certain, the tendency to believe in the paranormal appears to be there from the beginning," said Christopher Bader, a Baylor University sociologist. "What changes is the content of the paranormal. For example, very few people believe in faeries and elves these days. But as belief in faeries faded, other beliefs, such as belief in UFOs, emerged to take their place."
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bigfoot, ghosts, aliens...what about spirits, and demons?
o.O
I don't know.
While the first survey results are iffy [the method was not revealed], I did find it interesting that another survey showed that belief in the paranormal increased at higher levels of education.
I find it ammusing for someone who has no more evidence for their claims to point out the delusions of others. You simply have a new tuxedo you made up to dress up the same old gap.
Aliens exist because you cant prove they dont.
Ghosts exist because you cant prove they dont.
The universe is a giant brain because you cant prove it isnt.
Pot, meet kettle.
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That surprised me. All the surveys I've heard of either indicated that religious belief decreased at higher levels of education or no correlation was found.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
I would say life is likely to exist somewhere out there other than this planet. With an unknown scale and unknown likelihood though, that is purely my speculation. I also wouldn't claim that the possible life would need to be capable of reason. We just just very tiny and fairly blind in a very, very big place.
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Here's that article
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060121_paranormal_poll.html
Does it say anywhere what they mean by aliens? I Would have to say that is likely aliens exist on other planets and I suppose that would put me in the "yes" category. I believe this because I know the earth is nothing special and if life can arise here it can't be so rare that it can't arise somewhere else in the vast universe. That being said I of course don't believe in UFO's coming and abducting slack jawed hill-billies. It's possible that people misinterpretted the question as "Is it likely that aliens exist?" or something a long those lines and this skewed the results.