[Ghost On The Highway]

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

I'm going to focus on this specifically, because I don't think that's what going on here. Intelligent people aren't necessarily more happy, in fact I'd wager the opposite is true because being intelligent means being more aware, especially of all of the bullshit in life. Hemingway put it best- "happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." Inversely, less intelligent people would be less aware about things not immediately surrounding themselves, and would be content in what little they do know, because less negativity has a chance of getting into their respective realities.

I would argue that the difference between those of higher and lower intelligence (which is incredibly relative) has less to do with happiness and more to do with perception, more importantly the ""why". Intelligent people are more likely to know why something went wrong, and how to fix/deal with it. People with less intelligence would be left with more questions then answers, and certain aspects of religion, especially the community oriented part of it, would help them overcome the lack of resolution and accept their situation with the help of like minded individuals. I would even hypothesize that that sort of thing is a method of artificial resolution via a social safety net.

Fantastic insight here. I can't imagine unhappiness is a strong driving force towards religious devotion. If anything, wouldn't the unhappy man be equally likely to reject God in favor of a rationalist or nihilistic view? Religion does seem to appeal to those who feel they have been "wronged" by the world or that their circumstances are the result of others' wrongdoing. Consider the Beatitudes, which basically say "If you've been fucked in this life, it will get better in the next."

As for low intelligence driving religious affiliation, I think you're right on with the notion of community. I can imagine that many impoverished people feel vulnerable and abused by society, and thus need to band together with similar individuals to cope. The concept of an all-powerful being who values them over the rich is in their case a source of great comfort.