Data interpretation question. Maybe a dumb question. You say that being white and more religious are variables that make people less likely to believe in alien encounters, but there aren’t any variables that point toward higher belief in aliens. Wouldn’t “non-white” and “less religious” be variables that point to higher belief in alien encounters?
Which I find confusing on the face of it: I would think that a religious person is more inclined to believe in the ubiquity of mind and life in the universe than a non-religious person.
Really enjoy this lighthearted piece. Thank you Ryan. I'm almost tempted to ask if you can look into whether Christians are also more superstitious and more likely to believe in ghosts.
For a positive correlation, I'll bet that people named "Allen" or Allie" would be more likely to believe in aliens. The evidence for aptonyms is fairly strong, as I understand it.
Also Scientologists, at least if they're weekly attenders :)
Data interpretation question. Maybe a dumb question. You say that being white and more religious are variables that make people less likely to believe in alien encounters, but there aren’t any variables that point toward higher belief in aliens. Wouldn’t “non-white” and “less religious” be variables that point to higher belief in alien encounters?
Which I find confusing on the face of it: I would think that a religious person is more inclined to believe in the ubiquity of mind and life in the universe than a non-religious person.
Really enjoy this lighthearted piece. Thank you Ryan. I'm almost tempted to ask if you can look into whether Christians are also more superstitious and more likely to believe in ghosts.
For a positive correlation, I'll bet that people named "Allen" or Allie" would be more likely to believe in aliens. The evidence for aptonyms is fairly strong, as I understand it.
Also Scientologists, at least if they're weekly attenders :)
This is super fascinating! Thank you for covering this.