more people believe in aliens and ghosts than god

[Amby 490]

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.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/081...pernatural.html

[Jenn! 918]

So the survey was done on X-Files fans? Great sample!

[Amby 490]

just trying to promote some discussion...VJ is boring lately

[jundp 191]

And in the UK nonetheless

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Why do they hate god?

[Mags 112]

And in the Daily Mail!

[Dr. Obvious 49]

And in the UK nonetheless

The study was done of US college students.

Odd stuff.

[Peikko 1,575]

Gotta love the Daily Mail. I think it is true to say though, that the ave Brit is on the scale from agnostic to atheist than on the scale believe in god to agnostic. That's just a guess though

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Why do they hate god?

cuz god is Mexican, hence illegal. Daaaaa