http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence/)

Ok, before anyone freaks out and posts anything without reading the entire article, this study does not use what you and I would probably consider to be liberal and conservative. I found it to be interesting, but not beyond what I sort of gathered.

I wont post anything beyond that. You'll have to read the article to get a fair understanding of what the point may be.

So please, read, re-read, then double check before ripping this particular article apart is all I ask.

[The study] defines "liberal" in terms of concern for genetically nonrelated people and support for private resources that help those people. It does not look at other factors that play into American political beliefs, such as abortion, gun control and gay rights.

"Liberals are more likely to be concerned about total strangers; conservatives are likely to be concerned with people they associate with," he said.

So it's basically saying that people with higher IQs tend to be more concerned with the welfare of strangers. My only real objection to this is that the IQ difference they talk about is very small (only 6 to 11 points), and IQ is a pretty useless measure of actual intelligence.

So it's basically saying that people with higher IQs tend to be more concerned with the welfare of strangers. My only real objection to this is that the IQ difference they talk about is very small (only 6 to 11 points), and IQ is a pretty useless measure of actual intelligence.

I agree, any study that uses an IQ score as a solid measure for intelligence is setting itself up for trouble.

Yeah, never really understood IQ measuring in the long run.

Yeah, never really understood IQ measuring in the long run.

It's a leftover from the days when scientists believed we could develop a standardized test and place people on a linear line. It's really outdated but some aspects of the intellectual community won't give it up.

Along the same lines - I found this article interesting.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200809/conservatives-are-dumber-and-smarter-liberals)
(http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200809/conservatives-are-dumber-and-smarter-liberals)

Some salient points from the article:

It highlights (yet again) that ‘conservatism' is not necessarily a coherent construct, but that you have to distinguish at minimum social conservatism and economic conservatism (libertarianism). If you think about it: Jerry Falwell and Milton Freedman are worlds apart

States that had higher IQ's also voted more Democrats into office-but only if political involvement was high. In states with low voter turnout, high IQ was correlated with having more Republican lawmakers. What does it all mean? Theorize at will.

Neither of the studies answer whether cognitive ability influences political orientation, or vice versa, or whether a third factor influences them both. Kemmelmeier notes that the first option makes more sense than the second, given that intelligence is more dependent upon genes than is political orientation. But of course voting for an incompetent president or vice president can have the effect of making you FEEL so much smarter, if simply by comparison.

Interesting...that's all I can say about these kinds of studies. I just feel like we have so many other problems in the world that if all of these "intellectuals" that administer these surveys got together, we could solve some real problems on Earth...rather than study for years to find out there's a 6 to 11 point difference in IQ.

Just my 2 cents.

Interesting...that's all I can say about these kinds of studies. I just feel like we have so many other problems in the world that if all of these "intellectuals" that administer these surveys got together, we could solve some real problems on Earth...rather than study for years to find out there's a 6 to 11 point difference in IQ.
Yeah, goes up there with the study that said African American's IQ was slightly lower. Even if it WAS true, we really don't need to know some things and, really, what a waste of time and money.

Meh, it doesn't really say much, this study and TBH, intelligence and knowledge are useless crap if they have/get no use. Amusing though when it is without common sense.

Behold what you have are:

The one with a master's who thinks it's a good idea to put out a burning pot full of grease with fire only to have it react violently and get scalded.

Or the PhD who may be a world class surgeon and instructor in his field, yet couldn't fix his own tire to save his life.

Yeah, goes up there with the study that said African American's IQ was slightly lower. Even if it WAS true, we really don't need to know some things and, really, what a waste of time and money.

Don't forget effort in there as well. :dev9: