http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/32284428

A new Gallup International survey suggests that the highest concentration of atheists is in China.

Don't these countries also have the highest IQ too? I always wonder if IQ is related to personal beliefs because all my atheist friends do really well in school. I am probably generalizing here but that is just my personal observation.

It's the result of 6 decades of religious persecution and anti-religious campaigns of the Chinese governement. Soviet Russia used to have one of the largest population of atheists but after communism fell most of the people got back to being religious again.

IQ is kind of ********. You can't quantify intelligence with a measure like that.

But Japan's students are some of the best in the world (although they're kind of overworked).

The Chinese are actually pretty superstitious though. A lot of people there believe the number 4 is unlucky and the number 8 is lucky. My Aunt has her phone number with lots of 8's in it. Believe me she paid a lot for that! The Beijing Olympics started on 08/08/08 for this very reason.

Some unlucky numbers are missing in this Shanghai elevator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia

Also don't forget the Feng Shui thing!

it has NOTHING to do with religion. you tried

that's why they're usually the smartest ones

You comparing religion to superstition is interesting

Many Chinese superstitions have to do with the Chinese language and its abundant homophones, and not with religion. Although I agree that superstition is also kind of ********.

Would be surprised if this wasn't the case considering China has the world's largest population

That doesnt mean anything sis. The % are calculated based on the respective population.

Chinese & Japanese better sleigh.

Oh so it's not sheer numbers but percent of population?

Oh okay.

Asians are good at science. What's new?

I'm pretty sure these two countries have always had belief systems that aren't necessarily theistic. I doubt it has that much to do with their intelligence.

The concept of religion is entirely different in East Asia. Most East Asians (except South Koreans) don't believe in the same idea of a personal God as that in Abrahamic religions but they all have a continued long tradition of ancestral veneration. They don't just pay homage to their deceased relatives and ancestors. They actually worship them much like how Catholics venerate saints and believe they're watching over them. I wouldn't categorize people who worship and pray to dead people as atheists.

I thought that it was Sweden?

The things is...eastern Asian "religions" are not based on the sole existence of GOD and it has more to do with natural laws ,ancestry and karma etc.

China is not the biggest super power in the world.

Not mainland China, but Hong Kong.

Superstition is rooted in the same type thinking and ideas. They're myths, beliefs and practices used to explain stuff. The difference is religion is a set, define system.

Karma is an idea from South Asian "religions," not East Asian ones.