Posted by Chris on August 24, 1998 at 14:46:59:
In Reply to: Is math really the cause? posted by rpcman on August 24, 1998 at 10:43:58:
but the correlation is still interesting. Accomplished mathematicians are twice as likely to believe in God and immortality as other scientists. You suggest that mathematics doesn't introduce major conflicts with traditional religion as do biology or physics. Maybe that's part of it--but the questions from the survey didn't ask about belief in the Bible. I would guess that 100% of NAS members don't believe in Bible stories about Adam and Eve or Noahs ark, regardless of the field of study.
Could it also be true that the kind of proofs and thinking tools available to mathematicians are more compatible with faith? As a biologist, I will rarely be able to generate neat proofs that modern mathematicians use as a standard. Doubt and reserving judgement, or making qualified judgements based on limited data, are inescapable in most areas of science. That way of thinking has definitely shaped my current views on faith-based belief. Could this be an important difference for mathematicians and their beliefs?