• Question: Why are scientists atheists???

    Asked by 692spcn38 to Xu, Leah-Nani, Kathryn, Ian, Hina, Andrew on 19 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 19 Jun 2018:

      Not all of them are! My officemate when I did my PhD was a staunch Catholic, for instance. I think whether or not you believe depends much more on your family and your upbringing than on your career choice.

    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 19 Jun 2018:

      Not all scientists are atheists. This is often a personal choice, rather than directly to do with your job.

    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 20 Jun 2018:

      Not all are. But a large proportion are atheist, or humanist (which is sort of atheism).
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      I think when blessed with the competence and confidence to make your own conclusions from the available evidence, without bowing to peer pressure, atheism is an obvious conclusion to make.
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      Charles Darwin was deeply religious for example. He had huge difficulty publishing his works on evolution because he knew it would fundamentally undermine the teaching of the church and prove some elements of the bible wrong. He slowly changed his views on religion over time though.

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