# The Dawkins' Belief Scale: Where Do You Fall? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653 "2011-10-14T17:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/1 "2011-10-14T17:23:45Z")
I’m posting this poll in response to the suggestion in this [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14357112&postcount=90) by **Skammer**. So where do Dopers fit on this scale? Feel to break it down to decimal points in your posts – I figure I’m about a 6.5 these days. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/2 "2011-10-14T17:39:32Z")
Another 6.5, maybe even a 6.75. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/3 "2011-10-14T17:42:52Z")
6 here too. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/4 "2011-10-14T17:43:20Z")
2.5-2.75 ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/5 "2011-10-14T17:48:26Z")
I voted 7, I will concede that if a god showed up and somehow could prove their godhood I would be willing to change my mind. of course someone on the dope already posted how high the bar is set to proving said godhood, pointing out that its more likely you have gone insane than a higher being showing up and actually being a god so thats not to likely to happen. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/6 "2011-10-14T17:48:31Z")
I put 6. The accurate value is north of 6. I put the “God Exists” probability at about the same level as the “Reality is an Illusion and I am a Brain in a Bottle” probability. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/7 "2011-10-14T17:48:54Z")
I’m about a 7.1, I figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/8 "2011-10-14T17:50:39Z")
I’ll be very surprised if 6 isn’t a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/9 "2011-10-14T17:51:02Z")
Not many middlemen so far. That surprises me a bit. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/10 "2011-10-14T17:52:07Z")
I used to be a 7 but logically I can’t rule out the possibility anymore. My feelings haven’t changed, my logic has just gotten more precise. (YMMV) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/11 "2011-10-14T17:52:57Z")
I think I’m around a 4½. I put “4” because I didn’t think anyone else would and I wanted to feel special. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/12 "2011-10-14T17:54:14Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I’ll be very surprised if 6 isn’t a landslide. I will be too, but I was expecting more votes for belief than there are so far. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/13 "2011-10-14T17:58:27Z")
I voted 4. I was raised Christian, and for the most part, have come to feel about God much the way I felt about Santa and the Tooth fairy - except in hard times, I still catch myself praying, and when someone dies, I often think about them in terms of having gone somewhere. While I generally think the existence of God is rather unlikely, a part of my brain still wants there to be one. Honestly, I’m actually all for this mental conflict between hard fact and unfounded belief - I think it comes from the same part of my mind that makes me hopeful, and open to the amazing possibilities of the universe. The ones and sevens of this world, I find equally distasteful (and occasionally, frightening). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/14 "2011-10-14T17:59:50Z")
Can’t vote, I don’t fit on the scale at all. Too many undefined terms, especially “believe” and “God”. Consider myself theistic. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/15 "2011-10-14T18:00:15Z")
> [@Fatwater\_Fewl](#): > > I will be too, but I was expecting more votes for belief than there are so far. The thread title induces a ton of bias, and by its nature is going to attract a lot more atheists than theists. Voted 6, and realistically 6.5 or more. Basically a 7 if we’re talking about God from the bible, but I can accept the possibility of a sentient being with god-like intelligence and attributes. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/16 "2011-10-14T18:01:46Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > The thread title induces a ton of bias, and by its nature is going to attract a lot more atheists than theists. That “D” word, I guess? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/17 "2011-10-14T18:01:55Z")
3.5 - 3.75 Would be about right, for me. Wiki’s description pegs me as a ‘weak agnostic’. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak\_agnosticism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_agnosticism) ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/18 "2011-10-14T18:02:53Z")
Big ol’ 1 here. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/19 "2011-10-14T18:05:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Can’t vote, I don’t fit on the scale at all. Too many undefined terms, especially “believe” and “God”. > > Consider myself theistic. In this poll we’re looking at the forest, not at individual trees. Simply step out of Semantic Grove for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653/20 "2011-10-14T18:11:36Z")
I’m about a 6.99. I am really, really, really sure there is no god, the same way I’m really, really, really sure there is no Santa Claus. But, if we truly live in an infinite universe I do have to leave the teensy possibility that there is some sort of god-like entity out there, just like I have to leave the possibility that there is a planet where the indigenous life forms are Volkswagen Beetles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dawkins-belief-scale-where-do-you-fall/599653.md?page=2)