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Those Darn Facts: Liberal professor shocked to discover Tea Party smarter than average.
Cultural Cognition Project ^ | 10/15/2013 | Dan Kahan

Posted on 10/17/2013 5:33:57 AM PDT by Beave Meister

Dan Kahan, the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School was curious about the relationship between ”science comprehension“ and political outlooks. His findings shocked him: tea party supporters are actually more scientifically literate than the non-tea party population

I’ve got to confess, though, I found this result surprising. As I pushed the button to run the analysis on my computer, I fully expected I’d be shown a modest negative correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and science comprehension.

But then again, I don’t know a single person who identifies with the Tea Party. All my impressions come from watching cable tv — & I don’t watch Fox News very often — and reading the “paper” (New York Times daily, plus a variety of politics-focused internet sites like Huffington Post & Politico).

I’m a little embarrassed, but mainly I’m just glad that I no longer hold this particular mistaken view.

(Excerpt) Read more at culturalcognition.net ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Education; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: dankahan; dumbliberals; education; liberalprofessor; liberals; professors; science; teaparty; yale
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To: SAJ

That was it! Thanks!


41 posted on 10/17/2013 7:02:07 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: Beave Meister
Well, it remains to be seen if in the long haul, this Eli will change his ways or retreat to his ivory tower.


42 posted on 10/17/2013 7:05:37 AM PDT by Daffynition (*In memory of FReeper Blackie. God rest his *Hooligan* soul.*)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
What is important, in the grand scheme of things, is religion and virtue, and I can guarantee you that Tea Partiers are far ahead of the Marxists and libertines, in this category.

It is true. People who are directly connected through prayer, meditation and openness to the Holy Spirit are channels for a higher level of intelligence -- a spring of "living water". On its way through the mind of the faithful to inspire God's purposes, some of the Divine Mind rubs off.

43 posted on 10/17/2013 7:58:10 AM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Remember... the first revolutionary was Satan."--Russian Orthodox Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov)
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To: Beave Meister

The puzzling part of this is he admitted he made a judgment about the intelligence of Tea Party people from the media- yet he does not seem to be aware that the disturbing things he still believes about the Tea Party also came from the media.


44 posted on 10/17/2013 8:03:22 AM PDT by Tammy8
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To: sauropod

check out


45 posted on 10/17/2013 8:09:04 AM PDT by sauropod (Fat Bottomed Girl: "What difference, at this point, does it make?")
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To: Beave Meister

This reminds me of a dreck of a study published a few years ago called “conservatism as motivated social cognition” by Kruglanski, et. al.

Except that this prof’s at least dimly aware of his own biases.


46 posted on 10/17/2013 8:12:47 AM PDT by sauropod (Fat Bottomed Girl: "What difference, at this point, does it make?")
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To: popdonnelly
Maybe if the professor and his colleagues stopped treating Tea Party members as demons, he’d get to know a few of them.

I have invited intelligent liberals with more degrees than a thermometer to meeting, and they won't go. One noted he might if no one in his social circles didn't find out.

Cowards, one and all....

They would have to challenge their epistemological basis when they find everyone in the room has as many degree's, kids, wealth etc and they have more in common than they ever flippin' believed....

47 posted on 10/17/2013 8:14:34 AM PDT by taildragger (The E-GOP won't know what hit them, The Party of Reagan is almost here, hang tight folks....)
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To: Hardraade

The hostess for this group had a doctorate degree in something or other and introduced herself as Dr. Lang. Guess her parent’s didn’t give her a first name. She had two cats, one draped across the top of the door frame and another one on the fireplace hearth. I have cats but I have never seen anything like hers. After a couple of hours I remarked how well behaved they were because they hadn’t so much as twitched their tail the entire evening. Everyone in the room laughed. She had had them stuffed after they died so they would be with her forever. Just bizarre.


48 posted on 10/17/2013 9:52:38 AM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: MrB

BTW, someone quoted to me yesterday Lenin’s dictum that “Give us a child for 8 years and we’ll have him for life.” Didn’t seem to work out with the USSR, which had those commie kids a helluva lot longer than eight years.


49 posted on 10/17/2013 10:49:12 AM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
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To: LS

Actually it did work out, but the system came to its inevitable implosion.

The US is following the path, but a fair bit to go before the implosion....


50 posted on 10/17/2013 10:50:38 AM PDT by nascarnation (Frequently wrong but rarely in doubt....)
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To: Beave Meister

When a college professor lives in the bubble world of academia, it isn’t at all surprising that they know damned little of the outside world.


51 posted on 10/17/2013 11:14:11 AM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud dad of an Army Soldier who has survived 24 months of Combat deployment.)
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To: Beave Meister
From the article: "But then again, I don’t know a single person who identifies with the Tea Party."

There is something staring the author in the face and he can't see it.

The author says that nineteen percent of respondents identify with the Tea Party.

If the author knows 100 people who could be Tea Party members, but in fact none are, then the hypothesis that his circle of acquaintance is randomly distributed is provably false.

Each of his 100 acquaintances has a probability of NOT being a Tea Partier of about 80%. If he had one acquaintance then it would be very much more likely than not that such acquaintance would not be a Tea Partier.

If he had TWO acquaintances, then the probability, assuming that "Tea Partiness" is randomly distributed, would be the product of two probabilities, each of which would be 80%. So the probability of his two acquaintances both being non-Tea Partiers would be 0.8 * 0.8, or 0.64, which is 64%. This makes it more likely than not that his two acquaintances would both be non-Tea Partiers.

The problem arises if we assume that he has 100 acquaintances any one of whom might be a Tea Partier. The calculation of the probability that all 100 would be non-Tea Partiers is 0.8 to the 100th power; that is, 0.8 multiplied by itself 100 times. According to my calculator, this value is 2.04E-10, which is scientific notation for a probability which is 2 in TEN BILLION.

The hypothesis that the author's acquaintances represent a random sample of the nation's population is therefor statistically almost IMPOSSIBLE.

The author should give some thought to identifying the source of his isolation from this segment of the population. Whatever this mechanism is, its statistical significance is liable to be so large as to make his other statistical observations irrelevant.

52 posted on 10/17/2013 12:05:36 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: Beave Meister
But then again, I don’t know a single person who identifies with the Tea Party.

Wow. "How could Nixon have won? I don't know a single person who voted for him!"

And these people have the gall to say I'm provincial and backward?

53 posted on 10/17/2013 12:40:56 PM PDT by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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To: LS
Simply the number of Tea Partiers who home school should suggest they will be better informed and educated than the average person

Bingo. You got one here.

And I used YOUR book to teach US history.

54 posted on 10/17/2013 12:44:38 PM PDT by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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To: Beave Meister

I’ll bet that most Lib profs live in a very insular world that extends little beyond their ivy-covered walls. Being overpaid wear tweed suits, spout commie trash and bang gullible co-eds — what a life!


55 posted on 10/17/2013 1:23:54 PM PDT by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: nascarnation

Well, the very fact that there is an implosion then suggests that Lenin is wrong and that it doesn’t work out. Otherwise, the implosion would never come.


56 posted on 10/17/2013 3:46:54 PM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
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To: backwoods-engineer

Thank you. We just got the green light to do a new 10th anniversary edition and update through 2012!


57 posted on 10/17/2013 3:47:26 PM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
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To: LS

Yes, and we’re on our way.
The challenge (from an investor standpoint) is getting the timing right.
Timing is everything.


58 posted on 10/17/2013 3:52:07 PM PDT by nascarnation (Frequently wrong but rarely in doubt....)
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To: cripplecreek

speaking as a teapartier with a four year degree and a masters certificate in project management. IQ >110.

its the tea party folks who are informed and who execute RATIONAL thinking.

we spend our time productively.

sitcoms bore me.

discovery channel learning channel history channel military channel. books internet etc


59 posted on 10/17/2013 5:05:37 PM PDT by Donnafrflorida (Thru HIM all things are possible.)
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To: Donnafrflorida

I primarily watch news, science and history but I do have my diversions. Right now I’m watching the ALCS and loved Breaking bad and have returned to watching The Walking Dead.

Funny thing is that even watching Breaking Bad or Walking Dead I found plenty to ponder within the shows.


60 posted on 10/17/2013 5:18:00 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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