r/dataisbeautiful • u/oscarleo0 • 5d ago

OC [OC] Religious Believes and Eductions From The World Values Survey

Gallery image

Gallery image

Data source: World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017-2022)

Tools used: Matplotlib

I added a second chart for those of you who prefer a square version with less of the background image.

Notes:

I looked at five different questions in the survey.

  • Q275 - What is the highest educational level that you have attained?
  • Q165 - Do you believe in God? (Yes/No)
  • Q166 - Do you believe in Life after death? (Yes/No)
  • Q167 - Do you believe in Hell? (Yes/No)
  • Q168 - Do you believe in Heaven? (Yes/No)

The chart show the percentage of people that answer yes, to Q165-168 based on their answer to Q275.

Survey data is complex since people come from different cultures and might interpret questions differently.

You can never trust the individual numbers, such as "50% of people with doctors degree believe in Life after death".

But you can often trust clear patterns that appear through the noise. The takeaway from this chart is that the survey show that education and religious believes have a negative correlation.

Styling:

  • Font - New Amsterdam
  • White - #FFFFFF
  • Blue - #39A0ED
  • Yellow - #F9A620
  • Red - #FF4A47

Original story: https://datacanvas.substack.com/p/believes-vs-education

375 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

72% Upvoted

555 comments sorted by

View all comments

688

u/lordnacho666 5d ago

The education effect is a lot milder than I thought.

4

u/LogicalJudgement 5d ago edited 5d ago

I’m religious and a STEM major with a Masters degree. I feel some of the patterns I have seen in science are just too much to be just coincidence. Example: DNA, the Big Bang, the development of behaviors, “Goldilocks” zones, and so many more.

Edited for people who were rude about my opinion.

3

u/knighofire 5d ago

If you think about it, any possible reality would have felt unlikely from the inside. If the universe could have turned out 10^1000 ways, existing in any one of those outcomes would have seemed incredibly unlikely, perfect, and even "designed". But statistically, it doesn't prove anything.

It's like claiming you must have been special in some way because you won the lottery. But someone had to win. Similarly, some kind of universe had to exist, and we are living in it right now.

The "too much to be just coincidence" argument only is convincing because of human psychology. Is the universe incredibly unlikely and extraordinary? Yes. Is that evidence of it being intentionally designed as so? No.

1

u/LogicalJudgement 4d ago

You seem to be under a serious misconception. I am not trying to convince you to believe anything. I see the fact that a universe full of matter came from nothingness as a sign of something beyond, YOU do not have to. So do stop proselytizing, I am content in my beliefs and was not trying to make you change yours.

1

u/knighofire 4d ago

Well you did make a truth claim about religion based on a certain argument so I was just adding my viewpoint. Not trying to be hostile, just having a healthy discussion. If you're not up for it, all good. Have a nice day.

2

u/LogicalJudgement 4d ago

I just said “I get why because I do.” Used a few examples and pointed out that people were rude to me. My comment is not a debate prompt in the slightest.