tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342588263086244213.post5751981324561992296..comments2023-10-04T02:52:22.941-07:00Comments on Iron Soul: Happy Atheists?Iron Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753602185907947519noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342588263086244213.post-45977318596966727032008-11-13T22:14:00.000-08:002008-11-13T22:14:00.000-08:00You wiener-touchers![posted with great haste]You wiener-touchers!<BR/><BR/>[posted with great haste]Amicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09324676947691093774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342588263086244213.post-42730032029453968622008-11-13T20:10:00.000-08:002008-11-13T20:10:00.000-08:00I think I once made a comment on either yours or L...I think I once made a comment on either yours or Lori's myspace blog that was in response to a point you made about happiness and christianity in which you referenced some study or other. I glanced at the study then made some dumb, thoughtless comment and was squashed by Jim. God save us all from hasty posting.tkhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03396789090773395823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342588263086244213.post-68138989502580351272008-11-13T17:02:00.000-08:002008-11-13T17:02:00.000-08:00Tim, thanks for the comment. That will teach me b...Tim, thanks for the comment. That will teach me be in a hurry to write a post.Iron Soulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06753602185907947519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342588263086244213.post-57763742047260799702008-11-11T20:49:00.000-08:002008-11-11T20:49:00.000-08:00On the other hand, Norenzayan and Shariff are at U...On the other hand, Norenzayan and Shariff are at UBC, so <I>their</I> results (it was a review article, so not all the results reported therein are theirs) are about Canadians rather than Americans, technically, and Vancouver is, I would guess (having lived there), even less religious than Seattle, which is one of the least religious of American cities. Canada is less religious than the US, at any rate.<BR/><BR/>I don't think Dr Laura or American religious culture generally probably had much to do with Norenzayan's results. And I do think the explanation referring to reputation maintenance is pretty plausible.<BR/><BR/>Bloom may be right in ascribing the self-reported happiness differential to religious community and exclusion from that community, but I don't think those considerations have any bearing on what Norenzayan et al report. The link that Bloom makes between the Norenzayan paper and happiness is a pretty dubious. Mostly it consists of the following quote: "Since giving to charity makes one happy, Brooks speculates that this could be one reason why atheists are so miserable."<BR/><BR/>Norenzayan et al don't really say that "American Christians are nicer than American atheists," but to the extent that they do (which is not much), they may be right.<BR/><BR/>By the way, Norenzayan et al is the paper I sent you a few weeks ago via email.tkhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03396789090773395823noreply@blogger.com