University Study Shows People With Lower IQ's Are Political Conservatives
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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Winston Churchill
- Higher IQ linked to liberalism, atheism - UPI.com
More intelligent children may be more likely to grow up to be liberals, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests.
What IQ (intelligence quotient) means:
IQ means, "An intelligence test score that is obtained by dividing mental age, which reflects the age-graded level of performance as derived from population norms, by chronological age and multiplying by 100: a score of 100 thus indicates a performance at exactly the normal level for that age group."
The Nature Of Conservatives And Liberals
The article above suggests that conservatives attempt to live within a previously standardized mode of thought. They are not ones to step outside conventional and traditional beliefs. Their tendency is to try to destroy what they do not understand because change and evolution scare them. They are concerned only for themselves and their families. They like the institutions of the past for no other reason than they are of the past. This is why so many of them who are not wealthy are okay with the wealthy being given big tax breaks. And since they are fine with the trickle-down theory of economics they are happy to have big oil rape the American people at the gas pump and they don't care if the thieves of Wall Street take all the economic freedoms away from us. They don't mind not giving medical care to those in need, because they only care about themselves. They don't mind if children die of starvation, because they are well-fed.
Liberals, on the other hand, recognize that if everyone is not taken care of, it makes the world unsafe for all of us. They don't see elitism as a measure of a person's value, because they know that someones having more privilege does not make them a better or more deserving person. If we look at our Congress and Senate, it most surely will evidence this. Liberals see that change is inevitable and do what they can to be creative with the changes as they come. They would rather understand someone who is different from themselves than fear them. They would rather live a life of personal exploration than promote the stagnant institutions of the past to more powerful positions.
Reviewing the political map below, where the red states represent Republican/Tea Party states and the blue states represent Democratic/Liberal states you will see the average IQ of the population of those states. Notice anything interesting? The IQ's of the blue states are considerably higher than the red states. I can't say that becoming a liberal will raise your IQ, but given that only one of the red states is even up to the 100 mark, it is certainly something to consider.
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Let me first of all say that I greatly dislike the word: "liberal". Here we have a Liberal party - not everyone on the middle or the left side of the political spectrum is a liberal.
"Liberals, on the other hand, recognize that if everyone is not taken care of, it makes the world unsafe for all of us." That is true - if people are left starving, they will have to steal for their food (if that is their only choice). It's survival and we either all survive peacefully in a common good or we are all going to experience hunger, pain, fear, etc.
It is the Law of One. We are all connected.
Great blog. Cheers! (I'm not a liberal.)
AKA Winston, very insightful comment. Thanks for visiting and leaving your thoughts on the subject. I personally would rather be open to uncertainty than to be certain of my ignorance.
Lela
Dear Mr. Happy, I really appreciate the distinctions you make in your comment. As you say, though, "We are all connected", so excluding anyone hurts everyone, eventually. Thanks for your great comment.
Lela
Lela, you are fantastic!
Thank you so much for presenting the results of the study. I have been fascinated at just how the results reconcile with conclusions I think most of us have already made. Excellent hub.
up/useful and awesome
But that map is scary!
Hi Fay, I really enjoy it when the facts show irrefutably the results one has suspected all along.
The map is very scary, but more scary still is that most of these people with an IQ below the 100 average are not going to be any smarter by the next election.
Thanks for stopping by, Fay. You are my hero.
Lela
Embrace change and the future is yours. I guess you could say that tha past belongs to the conservatives and the future belongs to the liberals because change is the only constant.
Being in the Mensa range and a political conservative I guess I'm one of the few? I don't think so.
The Frog
Hi Lela, I generally stay out of politics but do read yours and a few others. Perhaps while the divided audience watches the two magicians on stage the real action is behind the curtain. Yours L
GNelson, change is the only constant and those who do not like change, fight it. But, resistance is futile, there will always be changes to make and embracing them makes the flow of life much smoother. Thank you for your insightful comment.
Lela
Dear Frog Prince, you are my favorite conservative. I read almost every article you write, but I do not want to create conflict between us, so I only comment when I can say something that will move the action forward. I don't think that being a conservative means you have a lower IQ, but those with a lower IQ do choose political conservatism.
Ultimately, what I think is the most useful is for all of us to work together to create a world that supports everyone.
Blessings to you and thank you for stopping by, I always appreciate seeing you here in the comments.
Lela
Dear Alaster, your comments are always so very wise. Labels, no matter how useful we think they are, just create more separation between us and as I see it, there lies the problem.
Thank you for reading and commenting on my articles. I so enjoy your comments.
Blessings,
Lela
I would hate to go so far as to say that conservatives are intellectually deficient, but I will say that they are generally not as well educated. By definition a progressive is going to think out of the box more often and not be frightened by change in of itself. Leia, I read an interesting article a study on comparison of relative peace of the states. This takes into account incarceration levels, amounts of crime relative to population size etc. As much as I liked the south when I visited, the most violent area of the country is concentrated in the southern states, any coincidence that they are as red as crimson?
Only fools believe that we can live in a rabbit hole, thinking that by tending only to ourselves we can stave off a coming storm. Outside the wealthy, the others are just the sort that do what they are told and are easily impressionable with simple concepts that the plutocrats put before them (red meat issues) regularly. Nice Hub
Cred2
Dear Credence2, the reason liberalism appealed to me in the first place was because I know that what affects one of us will eventually effect all of us and I realized that a planet at unrest, for whatever reason, will not be able to sustain itself, indefinitely.
People who are pushed beyond their reasonable ability to survive become dangerous to the rest of us. It was clear to me then, and it is clearer to me now, that the well-being of everyone is in everyones' best interest.
I do not think that conservatives are unintelligent, I think they are mostly short-sighted, but fear is a component of trying to keep everything the same, which is a characteristic of conservatism, and fear breeds violence.
Thank you for this very excellent comment.
Lela
I was listening to a radio sports talk show today and the host (a conservative in the bible belt) was off on a rant about laws against reselling tickets, how he didn't need the government to tell him what to do and how the government is always trying to make decisions for him, like healthcare, how he didn't need the government to tell him what to do, yada, yada, yadi.
It brought your hub to mind. All this guy was yelling about was his own self-centeredness - affects on HIM.
And I know him to be not overly bright - he believes all right-wing propaganda is true.
Dear AKA Winston, you are preaching to the choir. I was born in a suburb of Atlanta, and I go back there to visit on occasion. I can tell you that you don't have to spend much time in that neck of the woods to know that something has gone terribly wrong in the land of Me and Mine.
Everyone there seems to carry a gun because they are so afraid of their brethren. It seems to have eluded the population of the area that carrying guns does not keep them safe. It does, however, give their children access to firearms and only a few days ago I heard a story about a 10 year old boy who took his father's gun to school and injured several students before he was captured.
It does not take a genius to know that making the world more unsafe can never make it safer.
Thank you for this very useful comment.
Lela
Wonderful comment section, but as to your hub? LMAO...this comes on no surprise...you may find a lot of racists and birthers in the red zone, too.
I have relatives from the red zone...we don't talk anymore.
Having an IQ well above the 100 range makes this planet of modern-day conservatives a very difficult place to live...but who doesn't like a good fight?
Lela, you've done it again, and I think it might be fun to share your hub with my Facebook friends...many of whom are conservative, but you can't judge a person for being a little slow, can you?
Perhaps, we should inculcate better, steadier and constant teaching methods that would make the red zone hold its breath and think until they turn blue?
Good idea? I think so...Great hub...voted up, useful, funny and awesome.
Dear Perfection,
Wow! I absolutely love the map, even though it is a little frightening. And Winston Churchill for the initial quote? Beautiful!
What an excellent article! I love it! This seems to explain alot, I think. Thank you, Lela!
Dear randslam, what a fun and interesting comment. I am LMAO, too. I love the idea of, "...teaching methods that would make the red zone hold its breath and think until they turn blue?" Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Thanks for the great entertainment.
I do also love all the comments on this hub, too. The comments are much more interesting than the article.
Lela
Dear Jillian, it does explain a lot. Having grown up in a suburb of Atlanta, I frequently felt like I was on another planet. I cannot imagine prejudice on any basis, and living in a place where it is second nature gave me the creeps and I could not wait to get away from there after graduating from High School.
Thanks for your visit, Jillian.
Lela
Well, now. This is a good hub. I like this, and coming from you, I know I can say a few out of the box comments w/o you getting spooked about my mystical nature. (By the by, I don't consider myself a mystic.) Liberal ideals are usually not fresh off the press new. The Greeks were known to be quite liberal by our terms, and also quite conservative, as is evidenced by their panoply of gods and goddesses which they were fearful to offend. There are also some very intellectual conservatives, and even Glenn Beck is a very intelligent person whose conservative front is only for the purpose of ratings and a moneyed lifestyle. He simply knows that the crazier he sounds, the more people will watch. Many of the supposed liberals also do what I call "playing to the camera". IQ as it was originally measured was faulty. This is the reason it's use has fallen from favor. Anyone who still uses it probably doesn't have a high one.
Love your hub.
I have been noticing this for some time now. I am neither democrat or republican or whatever else there is out there, but this pretty much sums up and confirms a lot of what I've been observing - even via their proudly ignorant and selfish comments. I think a clinical study is in order.
Thanks. Amazing hub. Great job!
Hi Druid Dude, thanks for the interesting comment.
Lela
Hi Miss Info, thank you for this insightful comment. Just today I received an email from a Republican friend of mine that was filled with fear. It indicated that they did not want any legislation that would help the average citizen in the U.S. but they were in full support of more legislative concessions for the mega corporations and the huge Wall Street Banks.
I have to say again that you cannot push people who are already struggling financially at the hands of the oil companies, banking industry and insurance companies, all of which have received either bailouts or subsidies, too much harder without putting those who have supported these legislative moves in harms way.
It shows a tremendous ignorance and selfishness in addition to short-sightedness.
Thanks for dropping by Miss Info.
Lela
Actually, Glenn falls into the catagory of "Radical" conservativism, curiously oxymoronic, as opposed to radical liberalism, which seems to make more sense. Oddly, I find that true liberalism, the desire to live one's life as one sees fit would be better acheived with a liberal mindset unfettered by governmental mandate, and that the CONCEPT of judge not, lest you be judged, is more in line with those who most feel judged...liberals, bringing me to the final curiousity... all of the religious people supposedly support conservatism, hence, the "religious right", yet they are also all the ones who defend "keep and bear arms"...totally not Christ like...unless of course he had an uzi stashed someplace.
I appreciate your article and the map is interesting. My belief is, however, that the IQ ratings go deeper than liberal or conservative. For instance, I live in a city north of Atlanta that is mostly conservative and in the wealthiest county in Ga. Most of the more liberal counties in Ga are the poorest and suffer from the most crime. As far as the gun issue goes, most of the gun involved violence in Ga is drug related and economy driven. 3 days ago a 50 year old woman was attacked in the shower and forced in to her bedroom by the intruder. Next to her bed she kept a gun for protection and shot the attacker 3 times. Afterward the medical examiners report showed high levels of crack in the attackers system. I hate to think what would have happened to the lady if she wasn't prepared.As far as kids with guns goes, I have to disagree with this being a conservative issue. School shootings have occured in both left and right states. I pray for the day that everyone will love each other and that there will be no need to protect themselves and their families. I do not think of myself as conservative or liberal. I wish that the two sides could get over themselves and their egos and find common ground because they both have some good qualities that never get harvested.It is unfortunate that things are what they are and i also pray for the day that everyone can get along and love one another and care for the homeless and starving citizens in our country. I dont care which side the love comes from.
As always, your hubs prevoke thought and I love you for them (among other things!)
Oh, sweet mother of Pearson.. I'll be the first to admit that many things supported by the GOP/Tea Party are psychotic. But, I've got problems with the supplied map diagram thingy. The first thing that I noticed was that all of the state average IQ's were within the standard deviation of 15 points for an IQ score. In other words, on the "bell curve" which the score distribution makes (for IQ tests), all of these state averages would fall within the same range as 68% of all people who take an IQ test. So, even a state average of 85 still falls within the standard deviation of the mean.
Secondly, it's important not to read too deeply into a causative relationship between the variables - in this case, red or blue and average IQ. The correlation does not at all imply necessarily that having a high IQ makes a person more liberal, in a strict sense. Now, having said that, there is also a similar map that demonstrates that "red" states are less likely to be indebted and are more "fiscally fit."
So, I try always to be very careful when using correlations to make inferences about data sets, so that I don't mistake correlation for cause.
Dear Druid Dude, there are many hypocacies among us all. I know that to label each other just creates more separation and honestly I am for unity among us above all else. I think it is so very important to have compassion for our neighbors and ourselves.
The question that contiunually eats away at me is why anyone calling themselves a Christian would be willing to kill another, and would be unwilling to help someone who needs it without judging that person. If anyone has an answer to that question, I need to know what it is.
Thank you Druid Dude. You are a valuable member of HP.
Lela
Dear YFN, I so appreciate what you have said. You have become so much wiser than I ever was. My frustration comes mostly from the fact that President George W. Bush's policies left me so much worse off financially than I was before he moved into office, and with two terms of those policies, it had a profoundly unkind affect on my investments and all that I had worked so very hard for throughout my career.
Now, that said, I do not consider myself a member of either party. I have always been and always shall be an independent. Just as stereotypes are not useful ways to evaluate peoples or situations, I believe it is so very important to vote for the individual, because a party cannot assure the integrity of any of its members.
I think about you all the time, and I am so proud of you that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
Next to my dear Bruce, you are my greatest joy in life and I always hold you ever so deeply in my heart.
Love,
Lela
Dear mathsciguy, what you have said makes me think you are very intelligent. Your answer is thought filled.
Part of doing this article is a little tongue in cheek for me. I have to be honest and say that I am extremely disappointed in the current wave of GOP/Tea Party members who are so myopic in their vision of what our country needs.
They seem to think that big business needs a helping hand, but let's face it, the oil companies are very much like pirates, at this point, and we should have never bailed the banks out, we should have used that money to help communities recover and thus allow funds to go into community banks where they would have been more usefully used.
I keep saying this over and over, but I think it cannot be said enough. You cannot continue to increase the levels of those in dire need without putting others in harms way. And bottom line, it's just not appropriate to give more to those who already have so much when there are so many in need, among them 15 million children in the United States, alone, who go to bed hungry every night.
So, the conclusions of the map are irrelevant, what is relevant is that the GOP/Tea Party is ignoring this country's real problems so that they can pay back the big corporations who own them. I have to conclude that they must not be very intelligent and those who voted for them must not be aware of the real problems we face here.
I really do appreciate your comment, because I think it is important for all of us to know what the issues are between us and in the way of us finding unity.
Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your well thought-out comment.
Lela
Thanks for the love and you know I send it back to you. I without a doubt understand your frustration because I share it.Maybe not as much financially but morally.I am still amazed that,in either party, these clowns are all we can come up with to lead us out of this mess.
Dear YFN, me too. I sometimes think there must be a dysfunctional gene in someone who even wants to be in politics.
Hugs to you all,
Lela
It seems like an example of a Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc fallacy. The study is not measuring the actual IQ of voters but the IQ measure of the whole state. The southern states, for example, have more Blacks and Hispanics which lowers the IQ score -- but they may not necessarily be voters.
Furthermore, contentious social statements like "liberals support creative change" ignores the fact that there often aren't any. The most advanced music on the planet was and still is Classical music. Although you might think that human progress might by now develop something better, music has actually DEvolved into rap and hip-hop which are very simplistic, bestial forms, which don't even use notes or melody, and don't involve the co-ordination of 100 or more musicians.
How many liberals support orchestras with their donations? How many conservatives? Change is not always very positive, in some fields. It is best for Conservatives to uphold tried-and-true successes than to expect much success innovating and creating failures. That is where Traditional Correctness often trumps Political Correctness.
You also say that liberals think having more privilege does not make a person of greater quality, yet you seem to be imposing SOME standard of mental quality if you are discussing IQ scores at all! Isn't that a contradiction? A very highly intelligent person knows in his bones he is quite different from the run-of-the-mill human -- sensations are more clearly defined, more thoughts per second come to him. IQ is not a measure of prior learning but of reasoning POTENTIAL; chances are he will be more creative and productive than others, and earn more, and he is willing to tell you about his bitter disappointment about having the fruits of his labor "farmed" for the benefit of social services for an undeserving Illegal, for example, if you but listen to him.
..."Equal rights" is an insult to intelligent people; I propose maybe the number of votes people should get should be based on such a scheme, such as their IQ divided by 100 (the average), taken to the twelfth power and rounded off. That way, members of a university could out-vote the unemployed residents of a decommissioned steel-town they're next to.
Pierre, thank you for your comments.
CP, I did a hub awhile back that showed that the less educated a state is the more religious that state tends to be. This goes hand in hand with what you have here. Living in the deep south it's clear to most that the majority of christian conservatives tend to vote republican. It is the rightwing christian conservatives who are working tirelessly to degrade the education our students receive. The fact that they are in the majority allows the Texas school board to re-write history to suit their beliefs. They fight to have biblical beliefs taught along side of or in place scientific facts in the science classroom. That they are in the majority explains the fact that American students are loosing ground rapidily when compared with other industrialized nations. Foreign student today know more about American history than our own children do. 25% of American students cant pass the basic military entrance exam. Until critical thinking skills are again taught to our students this situation will not change. Our students are taught to memorize a list of words and beliefs and this passes for education. The worst part is that most of what they memorize to pass a test is lost as they begin memorizing what they need to pass the next one. What kills me is hearing these non-thinkers stand and proclaim how exceptional America is. Most people in this country dont know how ignorant and backwards this country is becoming. BTW, I dropped out of high school in the early part of the 11th grade and the last time I had my IQ tested, I came in at 153. Getting out of the school in the south is one of the best things I could have done for my education. I had signed up for a reading class due to my love of reading. It actually made me mad at the time to show up for this class and find out it was a last ditch effort to teach students to read before they got their diploma.
The dumb leading the dumber--seems to be the desire for the machine in the US. However, much of higher education also tries to mold students into Wall Street wackos, military boot camps create killing machines who later can't deal with civilian life, and politicians with high testerone levels that require several lovers and simultaneous pregnancies from adulterous affairs.
One has to ask, what happened to nobility, wisdom and discipline with an emphasis on intelligence? Is it simply a Utopian dream?
On a recent conservative christian broadcast the two female presenters were worried about how little the female pianist/singer was wearing with pride. Who cares? It's called entertainment and how much was revealed, with so little on, on display for so many wasn't so bad--it was just an artist trying to fulfill a dream.
If we continue to dumb down our society with concerns of skirt length and cleavage revelation, while breeding maniacal murderers that kill civilians and greed merchants who rape and plunder public coffers, won't the result be apocalyptic? At the very least moral and financial bankruptcy?
My angst is for those who can't get out of this paradigm. It would be nice to think that each American could visit a socialized democracy with low crime, no public gun-toting and joy in a career path, but in America it may be too far to stretch, because that would be 'un-Americun'.
High intelligence quotients may help--but can the intelligent leaders of the next generation fix what the "greatest generation" has broken?
Dear Stump Parrish,
Fear and ignorance usually walk hand in hand. Those who are truly ignorant and maybe of low intelligence, too, usually feel safer if others are suppressed. It makes them think they are in control, but if you put enough pressure on people who used to have pretty decent lives, but now do not as a result of bad governance you create a very explosive situation. Look at the Middle East and Africa.
Thanks so much for your wise comment.
Lela
Dear randslam,
I'm not sure we have not already reached a point of no return. It's not just bad politics anymore. The oil companies, Wall Street and the insurance companies have been given the keys to the treasury and have bought themselves a pack of congressmen and senators who know that they do not have to answer to the American people.
The Supreme Court polished off the gift with our souls when they gave these mega corporations the right to pay for unlimited ad campaigns for these houligans.
The most unfortunate part of all this is that fewer than 5% of voters will do any research on the candidates at all and everyone else will vote for the people whose names they have heard the most. So, thank you Supreme Court justices for screwing the American people once again.
Great comment, randslam, as always.
Lela
Stump, I agree that low IQ tends to go with greater incidence of religious belief. But to me it's a head-scratcher why this is happening.
I don't think the Creationist beliefs themselves are harming science education and U.S. test-scores compared to science test-scores in other countries. Why? Because science is much more than the origin of life: mechanics, chemistry, electricity, all those things even the home-schooled radical Fundamentalist Christian families will learn in the same way as anyone else. In this, they are not hampered by a belief in a Lightning God or a Water God or a Dilute Acid Solutions God. We passed that phase many centuries ago! But what WILL religious belief do? If you think THIS life is just an anteroom for a beautiful, infinite (what? On OUR memory-capacity?) and effortless Eternal Life, how hard are you going to try to improve yourself and get good grades here? In the face of the "momentous import" of the Heaven and God myths, everything else becomes bland and unimportant. Why bother?
In the movie "300", the Greeks were establishing democracy and were resisting the autocratic Persian Empire. They worked out a system of Hoplite fighting where everyone must stand in such a way as to shield his neighbor. The leader of the Spartans refuses the deformed dwarf because he could not stand in the scientifically determined military stance. When this dwarf goes traitor and goes to the Persian Emperor, the Emperor says, "I don't ask you to stand, I only ask you to kneel." That's how religious societies are: people are expected only to kneel. Believe! Obey! All the subtleties, doubts, alternative opinions, experimentations don't matter. The educational system is thus a pale version of a REAL educational system as a result.
Pierre, this is a very thought provoking comment that you have left.
I actually believe that one of two things can increase a person's intelligence as they age. The first is shocking events when they are very young, the second is travel. People who stay very close to home and have a benign upbringing do not seem as motivated to search. It is this desire to search, I believe, that increases ones capacity for intelligent thought as they grow older.
Thanks for your very interesting comment.
Lela
Travel can be very important to intelligence, but I'd rather say it expands perspective. I travelled, in fact I crossed cultures. I had only 1.5 years to learn English before starting school. Did very well. For multi-lingual people, information can be coded in several highly different ways. A language is not a new set of words, it is new concepts which don't perfectly overlap, it is a new way of coding thoughts. Precious idioms developed from singular situations in each language. But what does the guy from small-town America have, who hasn't moved more than 50 miles unless it were some field-trip? Note to self: get the kids of America to do some BIG class trips.
...If the kids of America take some BIG class trips, like other-country trips, where other languages are spoken, it might help their perspective. Even their perspective about religion. Who has the real dope about God? The story changes every 100 miles. If you cross to a new culture it REALLY changes. And then if they had a sense of perspective on that, maybe we wouldn't have silly Midwestern Creationist Fundamentalist Christians. They'd realize that they have no direct connection to Jesus; Jesus never visited this continent. Their religion is a hand-me-down; it didn't start in the U.S., it didn't even start in England. It is locked away in other languages from a dead past. Can they, of all peoples, really hold up their head high and say only they, of all peoples, have the story straight??
Thank you Pierre, all very interesting ideas. Your comments and thoughts are appreciated.
Lela
Pierre, is nailing the facts up on the wall for anyone to see. His explanations remind me of my own experience in fundamentalist Christianity, world travel, the study of languages, living in different cultures and the MAJOR point--credibility of paradigm--that is the "box" that people live in.
It has always astounded me, when religious pastors and church leaders speak with authority about their own personal interpretations of the faith (always the one they are practicing--is the right, and only, faith) even tho' the continent that this christian dogma originated is half way around the world.
The extended mythologies of "blonde, blue-eyed Jesus," the corruption of a translated text, the Bible, and their undeniable "truths" that they are leading people to Jesus.
It is this way of life that removes self-motivation, self-discovery, self-rule and independent, individual action that could understand the universe as it is--not as it is perceived by illusionists, dreamers, charlatans and misguided theologians.
The greatest story ever sold--should be untold--revealed for its synchronization with ancient poly-deific, and plagiaristic, civilizations and left in the department of historical development, where it belongs.
Pierre, I agree it is not the creationist's beliefs that are the entire problem. I have a sneking suspicion that it goes something like this. Since it is obvious that the scientists are wrong about the origins of this planet it stands to reason that they are wrong about everything. Now, as our preacher has made it clear that the scientists are wrong it must also make sense that everything our preacher says about any subject is the only correct answer to any question. And once you top this off with the fact that our 65 year old houseife/sunday school teacher states that the scientists are wrong, they must be. For those who couldn't figure it out that was a sarcastic representation of the typical christian mindset according to what I see daily in the bible belt.
Every suggestion you made about improving the educational levels in this country are valid. What the christian's seek is to expel everyone that thinks differently from their surroundings. That also makes sense when you realize they fear anything and everything they dont understand. Rather than take the time to learn the truth, they seek to remove any possibility of their narrow minded beliefs ever being questioned.
Take Texas for example. Rather than teach the children the truth and allow them to make their own minds up about this world we all share, they seek to remove any possiblity of their beliefs being questioned. If a set of beliefs are valid, I would assume they could stand alone and face these questions. The fact that most christians in the south are pooly educated is the primary reason they seek to keep their children from gaining a real education. They are afraid their kids will ask questions they are incapable of answering. And god forbid, they have to do any thinking of their own.
"The southern states, for example, have more Blacks and Hispanics which lowers the IQ score -- but they may not necessarily be voters......."Equal rights" is an insult to intelligent people"
In regards to your comment, Pierre .... Perhaps if you do not understand or appreciate US culture, you should go back to France (or whatever other third-world country you came from) -- we have enough bigots here.
Merci!
Dear randslam and Stump Parrish,
Beliefs are a way of dominating the masses. If you blend in a little fear and guilt you have a winning formula that cannot be easily undone. If you feed this mixture to a population with low educational standards and perhaps limited life experience, you have a group whose fear of change and inability to accept ideas outside their own is almost guaranteed.
I have definitely found fear to be a component of conservative politics. I recently had an exchange on Facebook with a conservative Republican friend of mine. It was regarding the islamic mosque that was to be built near the 9/11 site. Palin had made a broad statement that it should not be allowed to be built there under any circumstances. I made a statement on Facebook regarding Palin's statement in which I reminded everyone that the U.S. constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of speech. In response to my statement, this Republican friend said "...we cannot allow this, we must kill all of them before they kill us." In her statement, she also made the point that she was a Christian, to which I said, "The Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself." She said that the muslims intend to force Sharia law on everyone and that their goal was to suppress the masses, and reiterated that we must kill them before they kill us.
This is not unusual for political conservatives. They seem easily to hide behind religious beliefs when attempting to control what is allowed in schools, but then are the first to promote violence and war.
I am a spiritual person, which to me means I see myself connected to everything else, and see the welfare of all being in the best interest of everyone, but I have to say that I believe traditional organized religion is at the heart of fear, hatred, violence and suppression, everywhere.
Thank you both for these fine comments, and Pierre, thank you, too for creating this imaginative discussion.
Lela
Dear Miss Info, thank you for joining the discussion again, that statement by Pierre seemed racist to me, but I decided not to address it. Thanks for bringing it up and for your comment.
Lela
Pierre's statement was likely poorly stated as opposed to bigotry. The fact that certain cultures aren't educated because of circumstance isn't bigotry--it's the way the world is now--it's up to each individual to expand his or her own education.
As Pierre may have understood, many ethnic people have to work manual labor jobs and haven't been given the chance to learn--however, this shouldn't make a difference on a being's IQ--other than the fact that the culture they grew up in didn't allow them to expand this number.
It is a slur, yes, but perhaps Pierre should expand on what manner of IQ diminuation he was referring to in regards to Latin cultures. It was quite a generalization.
Dear randslam, I would appreciate Pierre expounding on this as well. I do not believe race has anything to do with intelligence, but education certainly does.
Thanks randslam.
Lela
Miss info, I will admit to having missed that comment by Pierre. Having finished my so called education in the south, the whites in this area need no help keeping their educational levels low. I would also point out to him that if hispanics lowered the IQ levels of a state it would make sense that alot of southwestern states would rank below SC. That is not the case as anyone can find out thru google.
Lela, in regards to the conversation you had on facebook, I have to wonder why and how the christians in this country forget the millions of innocent Iraqi women and children that our country has killed in this illegal war for profit in their country.
Americans scream at the top of their lungs about the victims of 9/11 and yet seem to feel that these innocent Iraqi people had it coming. Oh yea, they're muslims and therefore less than human in the eyes of most christians.
Manning attempted to show Americans the truth about what is being done in America's name and most Americans believe he is a criminal. Then again he did show them the truth and this is something most Americans ave no interest in.
Dear Stump Parrish, that really is what this is all about to me. It is about fear and ignorance being tools used by those of lower intelligence to create beliefs that foster hatred, smallmindedness, violence and selfishness.
If we as Americans focused on the facts, which are pretty easy to come by, then our legislation would concentrate on education, helping those in need and communication with all other governments.
When I say education, I mean promoting science, math, reading skills, philosophical discernment and the ability to think outside the box.
Helping others in need is the surest way to improve an economy and make a country safer for its citizens. Having masses of poor, uneducated, starving and homeless citizens is the certain road to a civilization's downfall. With large populations of poor, crime becomes a viable alternative for those peoples' survival.
The U.S. wastes much of our wealth trying to control the leadership of other countries, and trying to acquire other countrys' resources and makes the world unsafe for all of us.
An intelligent person knows that not everyone is in agreement, but understands that communication between those in disagreement allows a mutual respect and support for our likenesses and differences.
Violence has never lead to anything except more violence and in the meantime, it creates more enemies and fosters fear among those with whom we do not communicate.
The U.S. continually keeps this hawkish posture interfering in the affairs of other sovereign nations, invading countries who do not want us there, and killing innocent people all in the name of democracy.
The U.S. does not have a democracy. Right now I would characterize it more as a plutocracy, so I guess that is what we are trying to spread around the world, the domination of the masses by the rich.
Lela
Miss Info, if you hear of a doctor diagnosing a child as mentally retarded, do you accuse this doctor of being "bigoted" against the child? No, he's achieved professional competence and he's tested the child, and if he says the child is retarded, the child is retarded. Competent people have truly measured average IQs by countries and more importantly by race, and have come up with amazing findings (such as apparently a Stupidity Meteor landed in Zimbabwe in the ancient past):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AverageIQ-Map-Wo
How are we to interpret this? Well, there can be some discussion about it, but what's dishonest is to believe that "all races are equal" to eight decimal-places after being separated and living apart for up to 200,000 years. No other species stays the same after such fragmentation; it would be positively Creationist to believe there's been no evolutionary divergence. Small-headed people should not criticize big books like Herrnstein and Murray's THE BELL CURVE.
Or maybe to spare feelings, of the people afraid of where facts and interpretation of scientific data lead, we should perhaps agree that Intelligence doesn't exist, or even that Civilization doesn't exist? Hmm, seems to me that would be short-changing a lot of people.
Pierre, I am actuaally curious about this. Is it possible for a person to increase their IQ. I am assuming it is based on the concept of critical thinking. If a person is taught these skills wouldn't they have the ability to score higher on an IQ test? If I am right about this it would prove your map to be false. IQ scores would be based on the level of education that is available to the citizens of a specific country and not decided by race.
Pierre, your statement sounds defensive. When righteous indignation is the tone of what one is expounding, it makes me think the facts might be thin and that intimidation must be used to make one's point.
I believe that a person can, through proper education and valuable life experience, increase their IQ. The desire for knowledge is of more importance than the potential in many cases.
I think the real test of a person's intelligence is their motivation to know the truth and the facts and apply them to their own lives and the institutions in which they participate.
Thank you again for making this such a lively commentary.
Lela
Dear Stump Parrish, I do believe that intelligence has much to do with education and life experience. The education, however, must be based purely on facts and logic. Much of what passes for education, in many states, is driven by beliefs instead of knowledge. Beliefs, if engaged in wholeheartedly or out of fear, hide the truth.
Fear is only a rational reaction in a situation threatening harm or life, but we are all taught to fear the unknown to a degree. Those of us who learn to search for knowledge are able to overcome fear of the unknown, and embrace it, instead.
So if what is being taught is based on facts and people are encouraged to search for knowledge, fear becomes a lesser motivation for the actions they take. If on the other hand they are taught to fully indulge a belief system, they are less likely to seek knowledge and truth.
I, personally, grew up in Atlanta. Through a number of shocking experiences in my youth, I turned away from the beliefs of my parents and the educational system in which I was immersed. This lead to my own search for knowledge and the truth, and certainly opened my eyes to a greater possibility. That is why I said in an earlier comment that trauma in our youth, coupled with travel to places unknown increases the capacity for intelligent thought.
Thank you for being a part of this great discussion, Stump Parrish.
Lela
Pierre, I make it my aim NOT to argue with racists or sexists or any other types of bigots out there. You are just entirely below my level of understanding.
Hence, my exit cue.
Take Care.
I think Liberalism also has a higher arrogance quotient. Libs worship themselves.
Dear Miss Info, concepts, like opinions are just that, so arguing is a futile endeavor, as you point out. Thanks for your comment.
Lela
Dear tony0724, it would be difficult to find many people who are more arrogant than Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.
Arrogance is what the GOP/TP are now sponsoring in Congress. They have decided that a plutocracy would be better for the U.S. than a democracy.
It doesn't get much more arrogant than to ignore the needs of the American people so that they can enrich the mega corporations who own them. After the ruling by the Supreme Court on January 25, 2010 stating that corporations can spend as much money as they want to support a candidate's election, these mega corporations spent over 300 million dollars ($300,000,000.00) getting this motley crew of GOP/TP representatives elected in the 2010 Fall mid-term election.
Making blanket statements such as you have made show that you have no facts to support your conjecture.
Thank you for joining the discussion, though.
Lela
Lela bravo ! All these new officials of Ivy league pedigree sure are doing a bang up job huh ? NOT ! :)
tony0724, I do not know what you mean by your comment. Please enlighten me.
Thank you,
Lela
I am afraid that IQ can not be educated, any more than you can turn a 4 megapixel camera into a 6 megapixel camera through force of will. How can you will the vital amount of forebrain-matter in the brain, or the number of interconnections between the neurons, to increase through "education"? No, we must look at the facts of 100% inherited intelligence and its implications for human evolution. Galileo caught all sorts of flak for saying what's true: the Earth goes around the Sun. But it went against extensive Catholic mythology about man being at the center so the Earth must be too, and he was accused of a "hate crime", or some such vague language of his time, back then they just said "heresy", for stating something so obviously "hateful" and "anti-human" as saying the Earth moves around something else. Every generation of head-up-their-butts doctrinaire emotionalists rebels against clear, provable scientific statements about our society by inventing slur-language to put others down.
Candid statements about races and ethnic groups will also no longer be regarded as "hate crimes", in fact the whole fiction of "hate" will vanish. Probably that has a lot to do with how provable and scientifically consistent these things are!
Pierre, you said, "Every generation of head-up-their-butts doctrinaire emotionalists rebels against clear, provable scientific statements about our society by inventing slur-language to put others down." But, what you said to Miss Info previously was, "Small-headed people should not criticize big books like Herrnstein and Murray's THE BELL CURVE." So you are playing both sides it seems to me. You intended by your statement to put Miss Info down, just because she does not agree with you. You are welcome to make any assertion you like. I just thought I would point it out to you.
Lela
Pierre, I admit to being out of my element here but I was wondering if a person with out critical thinking skills were to take the test and then be taught to think critically, would have an easier time passing the test. Being able to think out side the box would seem to be an asset when taking an IQ test. I googled IQ and was entirely lost when attempting to understand the explanations I found. I did come across the statistics you mention but also noticed a lot of other contribution factors. Health, the education levels of the parent which contributes to the nurturing of the child, crime and a few others. Most of what I saw was accepted theory and yet not all of it. Anyhow, thanks for sending me off to seek a little more knowledge about something I am unfamiliar with. I dont agree with you 100% but if I did there would be no reason for a discussion.
Oh, C.P. you are probably right. I will be justified in where I put my insults, though. She's a small head who has not wrapped her head around the big books on the subject of race and IQ. After suffering enough abuse from small minds, the large minds simply keep quiet about it, let society slip into a fog stating intelligence doesn't exist, achievement doesn't exist, striving for better people doesn't exist and ultimately civilization doesn't exist; we can evolve in any direction we want and there won't be consequences! So for her the Earth is still flat and unmoving -- metaphorically speaking. She holds social beliefs of the same quality.
Alright Pierre, thats enough of the insults in my opinion. I was attempting to have an intelligent converstaion with and possibly learn something. I have no interest in conversing with someone who looks down their nose at everyine they speak to. Good day sir and truth be told i would rather associate with the people you look down on. They are of a better class of humans.
Well, I've pretty much exhausted everything I wanted to say here. Thank you all for stopping by and for this wonderful commentary.
Best,
Lela
Another exceptional hub from you. And the comment section is equally as interesting, with all the opposing views. The only comment i will make is that whoever put the numbers on the map, gave the red states inappropriately high scores in error. I'm just saying....
P.S. i am actually from Rhode Island.
Dear d.william, thank you for this very fun comment. I always appreciate your taking the time to read and comment on my articles.
Best to you,
Lela
I'm in a red state and just find this simply funny. I'm a liberal and I'm sure conservatives could find some numbers that may prove more to their likings.
Hi Mimi721, you are probably right. Thanks for your comment.
Lela
The map you've used here is misleading because it's based on fake IQ scores based on a hoax that originated in 2002:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/stateiq.asp
The true IQ scores by state are much closer, where half of the country is only separated by 3 points.
RetroG, thanks for your comment.
I had read some of the psychology on the difference between liberals and conservatives, but I didn't know about the IQ thing. Interesting hub.
Thank you for your comment. Many people think that political conservatism means what it says which is to conserve. This is far from the truth. What it has come to mean is favoring those who pay the most to be represented in Washington. Those of us who just go about our business every day, trying to do the right thing, are ignored and those in grave need who live below the poverty level, which now number one in 6 of us in the United States, are blindsided. Thank you again for your comment.
Best wishes,
Lela
The Frog Prince: prerequisite to being a conservative "the ability to believe the unbelievable and deny the undeniable" I believe you just proved the whole premise.
Well said, Canuck observer!
Wow Canuck. That was awesome!
I see the same thing all around me that this report/study finds. But have they researched the intelligent people on the right? I find (No study done) that these people tend to be more dishonest and corrupt, More likely to be the uber rich, and more likely to work to keep things the same, and more likely to lie to keep control.
Matthew, you should read the book "The Trillion Dollar Conspiracy", by Jim Marrs. You should also see the film "Thrive" by Phillip Gamble, which is on their website at www.Thrive.com. They both speak of exactly what you are referring to in your comment. The uber rich, Rockefellers, Morgans, etc. have conspired to defraud the American people out of all their wealth and the bank bailouts were just one of the ways they have done it. This book and this film I have mentioned will make your skin crawl and the unfortunate fact is that they also own our elected representatives.
The best thing Americans can do to take back any control of our own is to take all of your money out of the big banks and put it into community credit unions, which are owned by the members who have deposits in them. Also stop doing business with these banks.
It is clear that when the banks were bailed out, they had no intention of making credit available to consumers, which was the reason it was given to them. They instead bought each other out and increased their profits on the backs of the American people from whom they stole the money.
Thanks for your comment, Matthew. You can see I am a little worked up over this issue.
Best,
Lela
It's refreshing to hear the true beliefs of liberals spelled out so honestly. That fear, cowardess, ignorance and a lack of compassion are the driving forces behind the conservative movement. Of course conservatives belief much the same about liberals.
Thank you wba108@yahoo.com for your comment. Romney says he is not concerned with the really poor. Santorum says make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent. They may think what they want, but I always feel that the actions of a person speak volumes about who they really are. I said this in my article and I must repeat it again. If you create huge populations of poverty ridden and homeless people, you put everyone in harms way, because a person who is struggling for survival will do ANYTHING to survive including stealing what they need and killing, if necessary, to feed and protect themselves and their children. Thank you again for your comment.
Best,
Lela
First , this IQ data is strongly suspect. ie: it contradicts other established state average IQ data that isn't being used for political purposes(http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyey contradicts what modern science tells us about IQ development in populations over time (that cold weather exposure is the largest factor in brain growth over generations in any population of humans - the following article is compelled to make the PC disclaimer that larger brain size is not associated with better IQ, but conventional IQ science disagrees http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/11080 and last it contradicts the common sense that adjacent genetically similar (European heritage) populations will not differ that significantly(10 IQ points) from one another due to genetic intermixing, environmental(the weather) and cultural (for those that believe that nurture is a factor in IQ - I don't) similarities. The data used in this article has us believe that the IQ of North Dakota and the IQ of Minnesota differs by 10 points, a hugely significant margin, but this is a massive improbability due to the aforementioned reasons. One to three points would be believable. Ten points is not. This improbability, taken together with the contradicting IQ data, points to the fact that this data and this article were both created for the political purpose of defaming conservatives.
The data that I point to is much more credible, as it's conclusions agree with what modern science knows of brain development in relation to environment, what it knows of genetics of adjacent intermixed populations, and for the fact that it is not being used to make a narcissistic political assertion. The IQ data that I pointed to has lists North Dakota as not one of the lowest IQ states as this article would have us believe, but as the SECOND HIGHEST IQ state with a 101.4 average, only 1/10th of a point behind Massachusetts.
Furthermore, the data used for this article has the population of New Hampshire at an average of 109 IQ, a full seven IQ points higher than the state with the next highest average of 102. Anyone who knows anything about adjacent populations, genetics, and statistics will tell you that this difference is so improbable as to make this assertion a farce. This data is corrupt, point simple.
Last, I used to be a died in the wool liberal. I used to have those views because, first, it feels good to "love everyone" and it is one of the human instincts that allows us to co-operate effectively as a group. Second, i was indoctrinated with these views since I began viewing Sesame Street at age two, and this indoctrination continued through Grad School. However, our human instincts and indoctrination (read: biased information) does not good politics make. One day, I figured out the true nature of politics and everything fell into place very quickly. Politics is about co-operation. People are, right now, co-operating with one another and do not see you as part of their group, but as people that need to be conquered and exploited to aid in the purpose of keeping their group on top. Liberalism is the weapon by which these groups destroy effective co-operation in other political groups that woul otherwise be very effective. They will always be conservative, because that leads to the most effective group co-operation, but they promote liberalism amongst you to destroy your ability to co-operate. Liberalism is not about group co-operation between people who have a hardcore loyalty to one another, but about group dissimilarity that forever inhibits truly effective co-operation. Food for thought.
I would like to address one of the last points of your argument, "Liberalism is the weapon by which these groups destroy effective co-operation in other political groups that would otherwise be very effective. They will always be conservative, because that leads to the most effective group co-operation, but they promote liberalism amongst you to destroy your ability to co-operate."
If you recall--during the last period of government interaction where there was a call to raise the debt ceiling, the political conservatives were in no way "cooperative". I am not supportive of the runaway government spending, but when debt ceiling talks are underway we are not talking about new spending, we are talking about paying for the commitments we have already made in the past. So, cooperation, in my opinion, must be secondary to integrity. We must be accountable to do what we say we will do, in this case pay our obligations. But ultimately the political arena in America is neither about integrity or cooperation, but about one-upmanship, self-service and posturing. The American people, as a whole, have not been represented in Washington for a very long time, and even though the Constitution assures us that we will not have 'taxation without representation', it is not the case. If that were the case, only the rich would pay taxes in this country, because they are the only ones represented in American politics.
Political conservatives believe that they are conservative, but the debt in this country increased more under Presidents Reagan and George Bush than under any other administrations in our history, so political conservatives should revisit what it means to be conservative, which is to live within one's budget.
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate the level of thought put into it.
Sorry to disappoint but in Europe, the geography within which this study was conducted, the term "liberal" tends to mean what most would call "conservative" in the U.S.
AEuroLiberal- That's very interesting and revealing! I suspect the actual data would most likely show that conservatives on average have higher IQ's. Now I don't put much emphasis on IQ's anyway, because to me common sense and a person's values are more important!
I enjoyed the article, however (admittedly) I am always skeptical of politically driven pieces. I would be pretty sure a good many of the more educated and/or intelligent people do not side with any one party and therefore tend to vote "independent"---which, by the way is very prevalent in southern New England; they tend to be rather progressive, but they are not swayed by a party's ideas and more by common sense and a sense of what is good for society as a whole. The issue at hand is dealt with by personal reasoning and not so by a consensus or preconceived notions which dominate one party or another.
Austin,
I too am an independent. I vote for the person and do not vote for a party representative. I hope that everyone in this country will start spending time actually investigating the candidates and vote, "more by common sense and a sense of what is good for society as a whole." Because, after all, our history shows that people have voted for special interests and look where that has gotten us. Great comment. Thank you.
Best,
Lela
Interesting post and comments. Do you have a source for the state by state IQ numbers? I'd like to do a similar article but need verifiable data.
Thanks
Terry
Hi Terry,
I googled 'map showing average iq by state', and found several sources. Hope this helps.
Lela
To A Euroliberal-
Are you kidding me? European liberals equals American conservatives?! And you just made someone actually believe that thing and especially stating that conservatives now have higher IQ's in "actual data". Then all of a sudden stating that it's not that IQ is important but "common sense and personal values". Beautiful.
So the "socialist" Labour Party is conservative by American standards?? Read Wikipedia carefully!! The statement there telling that America's conservatism is the rest of the world's liberalism is a statement shrouded by the myth of American exceptionalism! And guess what, that statement was written during the 1950's conservative era in America. And height of the Cold War too.
My goodness. The Europeans have more advanced democratic institutions than Americans now. And their liberalism, America calls communism! not conservatism!
Just want to enlighten people who just read that very disturbing statement.
But it depends, what Euroliberal calls liberalism might be classical liberalism. And that one is close to American conservatism.
But Europe is not classical liberal anymore! It's modern liberal already! Even more than America!
SIGH.
I, normally, don't get involved in a political discussion, but found your hub interesting. I agree that everyone has to be taken care of. There is no other way.
Many of us don't like all the issues, but to do anything less than consider everyone really does make for an unsafe world.
Thank you wwolfs, that really is my whole point. If everyone is not taken care of, it puts everyone in harms way. We currently have 17 million children in the US who go to bed hungry every night, and 1 in 6 of us in the US are below the poverty level. We keep wasting billions on wars in foreign countries while we allow America to go down in the flames of negligence.
It really will not matter who was right and who was wrong when our country is overrun by poverty and hunger. Thank you again for your comment.
Best wishes,
Lela
AKA Winston Level 5 Commenter 12 months ago
Truly inspiring to see data to support the conclusions. Your article also reenforces what Barry Ritholtz, CEO of Fusion IQ wrote on his blog, that study after study has shown that humans prefer self-assured leaders who are dead wrong over the less convincing who admit they do not know.
Or as Ronald Reagan might have once said, There you go again. Just when I finally memorized the creation story in Genesis, you go and change it all to evolution.