He\'s an atheist, what does that tell us
 

about his philosophy, morals or anything else about him?

A lot of B or non-B situations are uninformative. There are whites and non-whites, there are germans and non-germans, there are longsleeved shirts and other clothes. Other than the overall category we are referring to ( color, nationality, clothing) there is often not a lot of information in learning something is non-B.

I could be missing something ( hence this post) but I can't much I'd be 75% sure of if I'm told somebody is an atheist, including, perhaps especially, why they are an atheist.

Most may agree with the above ?? but I'd be interested in what people think are attributes you may more likely find in a random atheist than you would find in the general population.

Would you expect them to be more - rational, intelligent, self-centered, fair, concerned with equality, greedy, tolerant, libertarian, hedonistic, etc.

I doubt if most people know enough atheists well enough to have a solid feel for it ( most non-theists are agnostics) but even impressions would be interesting.

thanks, luckyme,
if I thought I was wrong, I'd change my mind

Re: He\'s an atheist, what does that tell us
 

He doesn't believe in god(s). Nothing else. I've spoken with enough atheists that I am fairly confident that they have nothing else in common (that isn't common among all other human beings).

Re: He\'s an atheist, what does that tell us
 

You may be right. I was thinking more along the lines of some very general terms perhaps influenced by ideas like --

Europeans are lower-keyed than americans because the adventurous, boisterous types have been bled off over the centuries to the new world (which helps explain america as an extreme extraverted society).

The red states are red because people with a yen for arts - music/drama/entertainment as well as major academia leave those states for calif and NY. And people with those interests tend to be more liberal.

Regardless of whether there is any truth to those ideas, I would expect a higher proportion of certain types of people would find end up as atheists. In Briggs-Myers terms, I'd expect INTPs to be atheists far beyond the norm in the general population, for example.

But, it was just a thought

Re: He\'s an atheist, what does that tell us
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd be interested in what people think are attributes you may more likely find in a random atheist than you would find in the general population.

Would you expect them to be more - rational, intelligent, self-centered, fair, concerned with equality, greedy, tolerant, libertarian, hedonistic, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

The average atheist is likely the be more:

- Intolerant
- Self centred
- Indifferent/cynical
- Unsociable
- Courageous
- Practical
- Trustworthy in important matters
- Likeable [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: He\'s an atheist, what does that tell us
 

I may have thought of one... but it's by no means universal. In the U.S. atheists tend to not let what the majority believes sway their own beliefs. Therefore, they may be less prone to "group-think" than others. But, this isn't saying too much, I suppose. I've met hard-core hateful atheist, and meek, kind-hearted atheists. Some are very intelligent, others not so much. Some are skeptics, others believe strange things without any supporting evidence.