The Theistic Probability Spectrum, or Dawkins Scale: What is it?

Religion is a topic of conversation capable of generating the most ardent discussionsBut we often forget that there is no single way to believe that there is one or more gods.

Like practically all psychological characteristics related to belief systems, there is a spectrum of intensity ranging from obsession with the idea of ​​the divine to the total absence of belief, passing through various states of uncertainty.

It is this idea that gods are believed on a continuum that led biologist Richard Dawkins to create a scale, something that is known as a theistic probability spectrum. Let's see what this concept proposed in his book consists of The mirage of God and in what way it helps us to position ourselves before religion and belief in one god (or more than one).

• Related article: "Types of religion (and their differences in beliefs and ideas)"

What is the theistic probability spectrum?

The fundamental idea behind the creation of the theistic probability spectrum, also known simply as "the Dawkins scale," is that we can use extreme values ​​in the intensity with which it is possible to believe in one or more gods for, using those extremes as a reference and creating intervals between they,

place ourselves on that scale that goes from the total certainty that the divine exists to the total certainty that there is no nothing that can be qualified as such.

Thus, the Dawkins scale goes beyond the dichotomous idea that one can be a believer or a non-believer, and establishes several intermediate categories. In the same way, its design makes it less likely to define itself as pure agnostic, since there are more options to choose from and consequently the possibilities of not deciding at all neither towards theism nor towards atheism are reduced.

Degrees of belief in God according to the Dawkins scale

Next we will see how are the categories that Richard Dawkins proposed to establish this scale between theism and atheism. Keep in mind that although it works for any theistic religion, it was designed specifically with Christianity and Abrahamic religions in general and their concept of God in mind.

1. Strong theist

This end of the Dawkins scale expresses the absolute certainty that God exists. It is still a belief, but it is a belief that there are practically no doubts or moments of hesitation.

2. De facto theist

In this second degree of theism, less extreme than the previous one, there are certain doubts of the existence of God, but they are insignificant enough that in practice the person defines himself as a theist without any problem, and usually acts as if the deity exists.

3. Agnostic close to theism

It is a form of weak agnosticism in which there are serious doubts that God exists, but a deity is considered to be more likely than the opposite.

4. Completely unbiased agnostic

It represents a completely equidistant category with respect to the extremes represented by theism and atheism. It is believed that there are the same chances that God exists as there is no.

5. Agnostic close to atheism

Following the symmetric structure of the theistic probability spectrum, it can already be intuited that this category corresponds to those who believe that there are more possibilities that God does not exist than that He exists, but these are not very far from the 50% that the completely impartial agnostic represents.

6. De facto atheist

There are some doubts about the non-existence of God, but in general it is lived as if the divine only existed as a historical and anthropological phenomenon, and not beyond nature.

7. Strong atheist

This is the second category located at one end of the spectrum of theistic probability, and represents the total absence of belief in God, or what is the same, the certainty that God does not exist.

• You may be interested: "The 10 types of beliefs, and how they talk about who we are"

The characteristics of this gradation

Keep in mind that the Dawkins scale it is not a tool to measure the intensity with which a person adheres to the norms established by a religion or by ideologies contrary to any religion. In any case, it is used to measure the intensity with which the existence of one or more gods is believed from a theoretical point of view, with no other implications than that.

So that, it cannot be used to establish whether a person is more or less fundamentalist, if you want to impose your religious or anti-religious dogmas on others, etc.

On the other hand, if we judge the theistic probability spectrum as a tool available for use in psychology, it is easy to find many problems with it.

First of all, they are the typical limitations of instruments based on introspection and self-assessment. For example, saying that you are totally agnostic is not the same as behaving like a totally agnostic person. There is a distance to consider between the ideas associated with self-concept and actual behavior in specific contexts.

Second, the Dawkins scale it is based on such abstract concepts that it is very difficult to understand exactly what each person thinks when he answers what he answers.

For example, some may try to place themselves on this scale with a very traditional and humanized version of the Christian god in mind, others can do it assuming that the Christian god is something much more abstract and far from human understanding, and others can do it I assume that "God" simply means a form of intelligence capable of designing nature and indifferent to notions of good and good. wrong.

All things being equal, depending on what you think the concept "God" represents, it will be easier to answer one thing or another., since some versions of the deity have more associated characteristics and others have less (with which it is less possible to err if it is affirmed that it exists).

Thus, the theistic probability spectrum serves more as a tool for reflection, rather than as a resource for obtaining meaningful statistics.

Bibliographic references:

• Dawkins, R. (2013). The mirage of God. Barcelona: Booket.