Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. to Conservatism, Prejudice, Racism

[ronchamblin]

I've suspected this.  It seems that conservatives like simplicity.  To strive for simplicity in much of life is good for the most part, but too much simplicity frequently ignores some important issues, problems, or aspects which should be confronted or solved.  Are they suggesting that if one cannot or does not wish to understand the complex issues or dynamics of the real world, then one might be inclined to be a conservative, a racist, or a conservative?  To me, it sounds reasonable to suggest this.     


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/intelligence-study-links-prejudice_n_1237796.html?ref=mostpopular

[buckethead]

I'd like to believe this study, but I heard on the radio just yesterday, that Conservatives are smarter than Liberals. Sean Hannity is a great American... would he lie?

[Garden guy]

I see conservatives as those who are unable to comprehend reality or understand science and are just full of bullshit.

[buckethead]

My post was science, your post is religion.

[dougskiles]

While we're on the subject of linking things to IQ, how about "happiness"?  Just looking at the titles of the top google search results indicates no correlation.  One of the more interesting studies can be found here:

http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub2000s/Intelligence&Happiness7.rtf

Abstract:
Are smart people happier? In this study, the relation between intelligence and happiness is explored at two levels, at the micro-level of individuals and at the macro-level of nations.
At the micro-level, we took stock of the results of 23 correlational studies. Studies among normal people show no correlation between scores on tests of intelligence and happiness. Studies among exceptional people also do not show the expected difference. Gifted people are not happier than average, but people with learning disabilities are. At the macro level, we assessed the correlation between average IQ and average happiness in 59 nations. At first sight, the correlation is positive. Yet the relationship disappeared when poor and rich nations were considered separately and also when culturally similar nations were compared.
One interpretation of these findings is that intelligence does not affect happiness; another is that its positive effects are counterbalanced by negative ones. Future research should look for such negative effects.

Perhaps ignorance can be bliss...

[Dog Walker]

Do simple minds seek simple solutions?

"For each of the world's great, complicated problems there is a simple answer and it is wrong"  - Montague

[BridgeTroll]

Wow... I learn more about Ron every day...

[urbanlibertarian]

I personally don't believe that someone's religious or political beliefs are an indication of intelligence or moral character.

From the end of the article:

Dr. Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia psychologist, echoed those sentiments.

"Reality is complicated and messy," he told The Huffington Post in an email. "Ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simpler solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies."

But Nosek said less intelligent types might be attracted to liberal "simplifying ideologies" as well as conservative ones.

In any case, the study has taken the Internet by storm, with some outspoken liberals saying that it validates their suspicions about conservatives and conservatives arguing that the research has been misinterpreted.

[ronchamblin]

Wow... I learn more about Ron every day...

Thanks Troll.   I just thought this article would stimulate a little thought on the subject of intelligence vs. inclinations to racism, prejudice, and conservatism.  But no, I'm really not as intelligent as I seem to be.  As I recall, my I.Q. testing showed over 400 however. 

But, seriously, it all seems a little confusing to me, especially when someone relates the conservative thought to a lack of intelligence.  I can more clearly see an association of a lack of a certain kind of intelligence to the racist or one who is excessively prejudiced against others because of ethnicity, color, or religious beliefs.   

Surely one can assume that a racist lacks something in the mind, something that should be there.  And the same goes for the religious bigot who aggressively conveys words or actions against believers of other religions.  Surely these two types cannot be on the high end of the intelligence spectrum.

And to suggest that all conservatives are of less intelligence seems to be unfounded unless one divides the conservatives into at least two types.  In other words, to suggest that the wealthy and successful conservative businessman, who has created a huge empire via hard work and creative business decisions, is of deficient intelligence doesn’t make good sense to me.  Perhaps these types are of the conservative bent not as a consequence of deficient general intelligence, but simply because they want to sit on what they have, to keep things the same because the current scenario has been good to them.  They are watching out for what they have, and thus, conservatism.   

But to suggest, as the Brock University study seems to indicate, that perhaps some of the non-wealthy conservatives might lack on the average some measure of general intelligence might carry some weight.  In my opinion, one’s tendency to be of the conservative bent, could be either a result of one’s lack of ability to perceive and digest some of the complexities involved in arriving at good or correct opinions, which  is a condition perhaps related to a lack of general intelligence, or simply as a result of one’s lack of education.   
 
 

[Dog Walker]

Any of us, not matter how smart or well educated can make ourselves "mind-blind" to information or viewpoints that upset our world view.  Refusing to think about something can look an awful lot like stupidity.

[ronchamblin]

Any of us, not matter how smart or well educated can make ourselves "mind-blind" to information or viewpoints that upset our world view.  Refusing to think about something can look an awful lot like stupidity.

I can see how concepts like “mind-blind”, “world view”, and “stupidity” are related to the idea of this subject.  I guess you are saying that our world view, being quite fundamental to our mental comfort, can be protected by a tendency to simply avoid thinking about anything which tends to undermine it. 

I wonder however, in keeping with the subject, if it is true to state that as one has a greater general intelligence, with the additional fortune of having a good education which might result from the greater intelligence, that one is less vulnerable to attacks on one’s world view; and this, simply because one’s world view, by way of creating it via a higher general intelligence and education, is less built upon one’s faith in revealed religions, and more on one’s understanding of the sciences, histories and humanities, which, by their nature, are less open to attack as compared to a world view based upon one of the revealed religions. 

This lack of vulnerability therefore, allows the more intelligent and educated, to have fewer occasions of mind-blindness, simply because they do not feel threatened by anything thrown their way; that is, from someone attempting to undermine their world view.  In other words, their world view is on a more solid ground than that of the individual who’s view is based upon a faith in a revealed religion.       

On your comment about refusing to think about something can look an awful lot like stupidity? --  I suppose it could look like stupidity.  However, one’s direction of thought is usually a result of one’s experiences and knowledge, and of course one’s level of general intelligence, and is seldom a result of intentional refusal to think about something.  Stupidity I suppose is the opposite of high intelligence, but unrelated to ignorance, as the latter is simply not being aware of something.         

[buckethead]

I like labeling people as idiots on a case by case basis.

It's fun and convenient. It doesn't require that I lug a big, broad brush everywhere I go.

[ronchamblin]

I like labeling people as idiots on a case by case basis.

It's fun and convenient. It doesn't require that I lug a big, broad brush everywhere I go.

Yes, I do the same thing bkt.  And when I say someone is a f#*k'n idiot, even though it is during a moment of frustration, further thought about the target usually supports the statement.  To call someone a FI is quite convenient, and it releases a dangerous pressure so that nobody gets killed.  The broad brush has its place too however.

Funny thing is I find myself occasionally calling someone a FI while looking in the mirror.  And frequently this statement is well founded.    

[Anti redneck]

Oh my science! 

[ronchamblin]

Oh my science! 

??