4 ms·

Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics That doesn't surprise me, since, based on my experience, atheists and agnostics tend to study several

by byoung2 16y ago

Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics That doesn't surprise me, since, based on my experience, atheists and agnostics tend to study several religions before deciding not to follow one. Fifty-three percent of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the man who started the Protestant Reformation This also does not surprise me, because this is more of a history question than religion. To draw a non-religious analogy, a computer programmer doesn't need to know who wrote a language to be able to code in it.

tptacek 16y ago
Or, people who are atheists and agnostics tend to be better educated, because having time to grapple with religious choices --- and, more importantly, the wherewithal to walk away from the community that provides your second most important support system --- is a "first world problem". The survey methodology at Pew does not indicate that they weighted to account for socioeconomics, which in some cases religion is a proxy for.
endtime 16y ago
And I'd be very surprised if anywhere near 50% of Java programmers had ever heard of James Gosling. In fact, I'd be mildly surprised if 50% of Python programmers have heard of GvR.
hugh3 16y ago
Also this question is probably particularly confusing to Americans, who hear about Martin Luther King Jr far more often than they hear about Martin Luther.
amalcon 16y ago
The other half of the first quote: as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. Which also makes sense, because they usually know about their own religion and also the majority religion.
michael_dorfman 16y ago
To draw a non-religious analogy, a computer programmer doesn't need to know who wrote a language to be able to code in it. I'm not sure the analogy fits. I'd argue it's more like a group of .NET programmers who had never heard of Bill Gates. Luther is such a towering figure in the history of the religion, it's hard to believe that any Christian, Protestant or otherwise, would not be aware of his role. That a decent percentage said Protestants are Lutherans is just too painful to even think about.
dlsspy 16y ago
"This also does not surprise me, because this is more of a history question than religion. To draw a non-religious analogy, a computer programmer doesn't need to know who wrote a language to be able to code in it." Are there programmers who work in languages whose origins they don't know? People (at least people I know) who care about stuff tend to try to learn more about it.

by byoung2 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago

Or, people who are atheists and agnostics tend to be better educated, because having time to grapple with religious choices --- and, more importantly, the wherewithal to walk away from the community that provides your second most important support system --- is a "first world problem". The survey methodology at Pew does not indicate that they weighted to account for socioeconomics, which in some cases religion is a proxy for.

endtime 16y ago

And I'd be very surprised if anywhere near 50% of Java programmers had ever heard of James Gosling. In fact, I'd be mildly surprised if 50% of Python programmers have heard of GvR.

hugh3 16y ago

Also this question is probably particularly confusing to Americans, who hear about Martin Luther King Jr far more often than they hear about Martin Luther.

amalcon 16y ago

The other half of the first quote: as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. Which also makes sense, because they usually know about their own religion and also the majority religion.

michael_dorfman 16y ago

To draw a non-religious analogy, a computer programmer doesn't need to know who wrote a language to be able to code in it. I'm not sure the analogy fits. I'd argue it's more like a group of .NET programmers who had never heard of Bill Gates. Luther is such a towering figure in the history of the religion, it's hard to believe that any Christian, Protestant or otherwise, would not be aware of his role. That a decent percentage said Protestants are Lutherans is just too painful to even think about.

dlsspy 16y ago

"This also does not surprise me, because this is more of a history question than religion. To draw a non-religious analogy, a computer programmer doesn't need to know who wrote a language to be able to code in it." Are there programmers who work in languages whose origins they don't know? People (at least people I know) who care about stuff tend to try to learn more about it.