I came upon this thread earlier, and was wondering where Nigeria actually stood when compared to the rest of the world on either measure (Average IQ and religiosity). So I went about finding the relevant data.

Found a study here with data comparing these measures for 137 countries, which I then put into MATLAB to obtain the plot below.

Well, feel free to make your own conclusions. How accurate do you think Nigeria's position here is?

My thoughts:

- We can infer from this graph that religious belief declines following advances in the quality of a nation's educational system. And since IQ is also positively correlated with wealth, it is expected that better education, as well as improved wealth distribution (basically a better Nigerian economy), will result in a decrease in the number of bible thumpers, thieving MoGs and boko boys.

Here's the thing though. When Karl Marx wrote those infamous lines about religion, he clearly intimated that the purpose of religion was to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them that this is acceptable because they will find true happiness in the next life. Marx goes on further to empathize with such people, acknowledging that religion is a necessary illusion for them, if only for the solace it provides them.

As an atheist, the one thing I've always asked myself is this: instead of trying to educate people around me on religion, maybe my efforts would be best focused on effecting the quality of life in my vicinity. But surely there's a place for both? I would like some input from atheists on this. What's your opinion?