Are liberals and atheists smarter?

Are liberals and atheists smarter? Psychologist links teen IQ levels with adult views on religion, politics and family

Because it's bound to engender some debate, I've taken the liberty of posting this item from the Toronto Star on this board. Don't blame Canada, though...yes we took golds for hockey, but this tid-bit comes from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In new research bound to irk conservative geniuses, people with high IQs are deemed more likely to be liberal, monogamous non-believers than those who are less intelligent.
Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist from the London School of Economics and Political Science, says it makes sense biologically. In an article for Social Psychology Quarterly, Kanazawa lays out facts based on U.S. data to support his theory.
According to that research, young adults who identify as "not at all religious" had an average IQ of 103 as teens, while those who identified as "very religious" had an average IQ of 97. Similarly, young adults who called themselves "very liberal" had an average IQ of 106 during adolescence, while those who identified themselves as "very conservative" had average IQs of 95.
Kanazawa believes there are evolutionary reasons behind this. www.thestar.com...

Not that I'm trolling...but conservatives will delight in following news:

Meanwhile, he expects the average intelligence of all western populations to decline slightly in the 21st century, because more intelligent people tend to have fewer offspring.

Perhaps most telling is the final comment...

Interestingly, describes himself as a married atheist libertarian with a strong distaste for liberals. But, as a scientist, he says he is bound to report the facts.

...don't know if this wants to make me laff or cry. Let the Games...uh, Flames...begin!

This is correct in the USA for sure. Highly religious, conservative, lots of offspring = southern region of country. Liberal minded, non-religious, less offspring, planned births, = northern region of country. Most educated people = northern region of USA. Least educated = southern region of USA.

Judging by those IQ numbers, both liberals and conservatives are stupid. I'd like to see a study of the truly intelligent people, those who don't fit neatly into predefined boxes. I'd wager they would blow both those groups away.

[edit on 3/1/2010 by minute2midnight]

reply to post by minute2midnight


You want to see a "box" of truly intelligent individuals, because they don't fit neatly into a "box?"

I support the research in it's entirety.

In order to believe in something unprovable, and most likely made up by powermongering nutters, you have to be pretty dim. Lack of understanding and misconceptions perpetrated by stupid people has actually helped create religion, as well as extreme political views.

Come on ye fundies - debunk to your hearts content, and try not to use scripture - as that proves the research correct.

Parallex.

reply to post by Kaytagg


Let's just stick to the tried and true. That way we can argue over which group of proles is more stupid.

While it's possible Libs may be more open minded about most things, there should also be a limit to this as well because if you are extremely open minded your brain will fall out.
This might explain why some extremely intelligent individuals have no common sense.

Some of this is probably due to abortion.
Think about it objectively, if all the fetuses that have been aborted in the last 30-40 years were instead allowed to live, it would be safe to assume that a great percentage of these would have grown up to be Liberal, thus cancelling out the findings of this report.



This last part of the article actually coincides with this vid.


Edit to comment on the thumbnail, w-w-w-w-woah-h-h-h-h

[edit on 1-3-2010 by Alxandro]

reply to post by Alxandro


Open mindedness is important.. I think people who like to attack it do so because they do not have a method of critical analysis which can sort out BS ideas from those with merit (or the possibility of having merit)

[edit on 1-3-2010 by Kaytagg]

50 NOBEL LAUREATES
AND OTHER GREAT SCIENTISTS
WHO BELIEVE IN GOD

nobelists.net...

This is just silly,

Look at the brilliant minds that have come out of the middle east,

This is really a no brainier for sure,
Doctors, lawyers, physicist, scientist, philosophers, people from all walks of life have god belief.

Physicists Believe in God (Or At Least a Creator or Designer): A Collection of Quotes

scottthong.wordpress.com...

“God is the explanation for the miracle of existence.”

- Allan Sandage, cosmologist and Nobel Prize winner

“Consider the enormity of the problem. Science has proven that the universe exploded into being at a certain moment. It asks, what cause produced the effect? Who or what put the matter and energy in the universe? Was the universe created out of nothing, or was it gathered together out of pre existing materials? And science cannot answer these questions.”

- Robert Jastrow, astronomer, physicist, cosmologist,

Dr. Tipler starts by saying that he has been a devout Christian since the age of 12 years old, when he initially found "God". His faith died down over a duration of time somewhat. But then Dr. Tipler 'found' God again,
A Physicist Provides "Evidence" for God's Existence
but this time it was through formulas, physics, and hard science. In his scientific proof,

www.associatedcontent.com...

What is the metaphysical?

Main Entry: meta·phys·i·cal
Pronunciation: \-ˈfi-zi-kəl\
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century

1 : of or relating to metaphysics
2 a : of or relating to the transcendent or to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses b : supernatural
3 : highly abstract or abstruse; also : theoretical
4 often capitalized : of or relating to poetry especially of the early 17th century that is highly intellectual and philosophical and marked by unconventional imagery

highly abstract or abstruse; also : theoretical

Beyond physics,




[edit on 123131p://bMonday2010 by Stormdancer777]

reply to post by Alxandro


Liberals and conservatives are equally as closed minded,

BTW, Johnny, you do realize there are liberals that believe in god?

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Your misinterpreting the results. BEing conservative does not mean religious. Also there wasnt a direct correlation between being a liberal and having a general curiosity about the world around them. Of course intelligent people would seek out groups that allow for explorative thought while the others are more like sheep and require them to work together to reach conclusions.

Think of it like processors. Where one person who is intelligent can develop conclusions and solve complex mathematical equations on their own while someone who is not as bright needs more people to figure it out like a cluster of computers.

this isnt surprising but the CORRELATION is entirely wrong. this is just common sense and not a debate though. Also being part of a team for people who are not intelligent is not a negative. Its just a different way of doing things and they do what they can to the best of their ability.

Originally posted by Alxandro
While it's possible Libs may be more open minded about most things, there should also be a limit to this as well because if you are extremely open minded your brain will fall out.

This is just a quote, you know. If you become very open minded, your brain does not, in fact, fall out. Just clarifying.

Close-minded people, who refuse to think very open-mindfully, will frequently disagree with you and call you stupid, but that is only because they are unwilling/unable to grasp the concepts you are trying to convey to them.

Originally posted by Alxandro
Some of this is probably due to abortion.
Think about it objectively, if all the fetuses that have been aborted in the last 30-40 years were instead allowed to live, it would be safe to assume that a great percentage of these would have grown up to be Liberal, thus cancelling out the findings of this report.

What?

You can't prove the intelligence or the partisan leanings of an undeveloped fetus. I don't think abortion rightly plays into this at all.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

Are liberals and atheists smarter?

No, but they sure think they are. There is nothing worse than a liberal or an atheist with a college degree. Since now they know they are smarter than everyone else, because they have a piece of paper to prove it.

reply to post by Kaytagg


Ha, I'm not attacking the open minded, I'm just making an observation.
If being open minded is directly proportional to intelligence the researchers fail to conveniently ignore the entire picture.
Even you would admit there are highly intelligent folks that wouldn't have a clue as to how to tie their shoes or balance a check book.
Also, how are they measuring it and what do they consider "intelligence"?

How can one get away with claiming intelligence is directly related to ones political party affiliation and completely denounce a similar study that says intelligence is tied to race?

reply to post by drwizardphd

You can't prove the intelligence or the partisan leanings of an undeveloped fetus. I don't think abortion rightly plays into this at all.

I think you may be wrong. Just look at this from a logical standpoint.

Liberals are more likely to get an abortion because they see it as a right instead of murder as many of the right do.

Therefore the left are more than likely to abort any fetus that has any sort of prediagnosed birth defects.

Also, since Liberals are pro-abortion, a liberal woman is more likely to abort that fetus she conceived with some idiot she had sex with on a one night stand than the woman on the right who is more likely to see that fetus as a living being that she is unable to abort and still feel good about herself.

reply to post by Alxandro

How can one get away with claiming intelligence is directly related to ones political party affiliation and completely denounce a similar study that says intelligence is tied to race?

Well Alxandro don't you know that liberals are so much smarter than the rest of us that they know which scientific study is correct based on how it makes them feel. Liberals are so smart they denounce any science that could say one race is better at somethings than other races, because saying we are not all exactly the same is racist... lmao.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


I'd have to see his methodology to see if the data actually supports his conclusions. In particular, I'd like to know the economic status of these individuals and their families as well as where they live and where they attended school. I suspect that what he has actually found is that quality of education impacts intelligence levels, which is hardly surprising.

Originally posted by Mr Sunchine

Therefore the left are more than likely to abort any fetus that has any sort of prediagnosed birth defects.

Regarding the children that are born with birth defects, that's another area that the researchers chose to ignore.

Example, take the case of the so called "idiot savant".
These are the people that most medical professionals would be quick to diagnose as being "mentally retarded" or "autistic" yet possess extraordinary abilities that will make the said highly intelligent Liberal green with envy.
These walking calculators or Rain Men of the world have no party affiliation yet something tells me the Libs would probably claim them as their own simply because most of them are exceptional musicians.

Originally posted by Alxandro
While it's possible Libs may be more open minded about most things, there should also be a limit to this as well because if you are extremely open minded your brain will fall out. This might explain why some extremely intelligent individuals have no common sense.

First off...that's not a terribly scientific rebuttal...after all, the paper was written by someone who doesn't like liberals per se. And I would humbly suggest that conservatives have, by no means, a superior grasp of common sense. I mean...need I really go into that? I'll generously award it a 50/50 split. But I will say, in the spirit of the original paper, while common sense may go far in terms of survival, it adds little else to evolution. That is brought about by thinking 'outside of the box'.

Mind you, that presumes one actually accepts the concept of evolution, does it not?

Some of this is probably due to abortion.
Think about it objectively, if all the fetuses that have been aborted in the last 30-40 years were instead allowed to live, it would be safe to assume that a great percentage of these would have grown up to be Liberal, thus cancelling out the findings of this report.

Hmmm...may I draw your attention to the following study?

The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime
Abstract:
"We offer evidence that legalized abortion has contributed significantly to recent crime reductions. Crime began to fall roughly 18 years after abortion legalization. The 5 states that allowed abortion in 1970 experienced declines earlier than the rest of the nation, which legalized in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. States with high abortion rates in the 1970s and 1980s experienced greater crime reductions in the 1990s. In high abortion states, only arrests of those born after abortion legalization fall relative to low abortion states. Legalized abortion appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop in crime." en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
BTW, Johnny, you do realize there are liberals that believe in god?

Certainly...I also note the report mentions that many liberals...especially politicians...will profess faith because it would be political suicide not to. No surprise there...

Originally posted by tigpoppa
Your misinterpreting the results.

Nope, I'm citing the report and the paper from which it's drawn.

Originally posted by Mr Sunchine
reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

 

Are liberals and atheists smarter?

No, but they sure think they are. There is nothing worse than a liberal or an atheist with a college degree. Since now they know they are smarter than everyone else, because they have a piece of paper to prove it.

Umm...the piece of paper attests to the fact that they have successfully completed studies that teach critical thinking...which is the most valuable part of a university education. It also speaks to the discipline of the student.

And it states that they passed the entrance requirement.

Yea this study sounds right. My belief though is that the super smart generally lack any common sense. This is why they don't believe in God or generally believe that the government is better for us than we are because people in the government have the same high IQ and a lower margin of common sense. Not attacking anyone these are just my observations as a dumb southern agnostic.