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?
I would think if you could get at more specificity with the "nones", you'd find a sharp contrast between the atheists/agnostics and the nothing-in-particulars. I thought that was usually how these things went: there's a horseshoe where the firmest believers and the atheists generally reject the most New Age ideas.
Belief in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life isn't necessarily New Age (though it can be), but belief that such creatures have visited and/or continue to visit earth absolutely is, in practice.
Though it seems (and IIRC we saw this before) there is a cluster of people that check the "Biblical literalist" box but don't actually attend church that much and, I strongly suspect, probably don't read the Bible or engage in much other Christian practice either. They're therefore going to be more open to syncretizing New Age ideas with their understanding of Christianity.
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.
Interesting point. Except that Genesis and other accounts of the Bible (even if interpreted theologically and not literally as scientific accounts) describe a very particular and unique relationship between God and humankind. This makes belief in extraterrestrial life rather alien to the traditional Christian worldview. It’s not that God couldn’t have created alien life, it’s just not very concordant with our sacred texts and understanding.
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?
I would think if you could get at more specificity with the "nones", you'd find a sharp contrast between the atheists/agnostics and the nothing-in-particulars. I thought that was usually how these things went: there's a horseshoe where the firmest believers and the atheists generally reject the most New Age ideas.
Belief in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life isn't necessarily New Age (though it can be), but belief that such creatures have visited and/or continue to visit earth absolutely is, in practice.
Though it seems (and IIRC we saw this before) there is a cluster of people that check the "Biblical literalist" box but don't actually attend church that much and, I strongly suspect, probably don't read the Bible or engage in much other Christian practice either. They're therefore going to be more open to syncretizing New Age ideas with their understanding of Christianity.
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.
Interesting point. Except that Genesis and other accounts of the Bible (even if interpreted theologically and not literally as scientific accounts) describe a very particular and unique relationship between God and humankind. This makes belief in extraterrestrial life rather alien to the traditional Christian worldview. It’s not that God couldn’t have created alien life, it’s just not very concordant with our sacred texts and understanding.
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.