Posted on 08/14/2010 1:39:36 AM PDT by ransomnote
In psychology’s latest assault on American conservatives, evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa has determined that “very liberal” people possess nearly a 12 point IQ advantage over those who identify as “very conservative.” Not only is the hard left more intelligent than the hard right, but they are smarter than everyone else, as well – mainstream conservative, middle-of-the-road, and even mainstream liberal.
In a blog posting at the Psychology Today website, Kanazawa baldly asserted that,
“...apart from a few areas in life (such as business) where countervailing circumstances may prevail, liberals control all institutions. They control the institutions because liberals are on average more intelligent than conservatives and thus they are more likely to attain the highest status in any area of (evolutionarily novel) modern life” (emphasis in original).
(Excerpt) Read more at ironshrink.com ...
I have a business degree, could join MENSA tomorrow and was in military intelligence. I never met a liberal in intelligence, except for some CIA Ivy League types. Ain’t buyin’ it!
Oxymoron. A “smart” Leftist. I they were truly smart, they wouldn’t be Leftists IMHO.
And to prove it, they voted overwhelmingly for Obama.
Stupid is as...well, you know the rest.
What I find a little odd is that the lib establishment (Psychology Associations) feel this odd need to keep generating poorly designed, biased studies to ‘prove’ their superiority. It’s just not enough for them to walk around with a self satisfied smirk on their faces...they have some burning need for MORE. I am wondering if it is partly due to the old BDS aspect. The left was angry because they kept saying Bush was a chimp or a troglodyte and yet he bested them easily (or made it look easy) over and over again. Do they need these studies to pat their scalded egos as facts/evidence/perseverance always foils their plans. Even if it takes awhile - Lucy always moves the football just as the Charlie-Brown-Left prepares to make ‘their best move yet.’ Zero caused more damage than I’ve seen in my lifetime but even he is going to have the football pulled away at that last minute. And I think it bothers them - supreme belief that we are farm-animal-stupid conservatives and yet we have the answers and they get taken out behind the woodshed eventually.
Heh, funny is what comes to mind. If liberals are smarter, then many questions come to mind and their answers have not been intelligent nor smart... Seems to me that maybe smart is not the answer, but maybe intelligence. That would put the general populace ahead of these elitists.
Here’s how the study’s researcher defined liberalism (note that the researcher’s quote is then followed by IronShrink’s commentary:
“I provisionally define liberalism (as opposed to conservatism) as the genuine concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated others and the willingness to contribute larger proportions of private resources for the welfare of such others.”
Got it? Liberals care about unrelated others, and conservatives do not. This is perhaps the most simplistic, unsubstantiated, self-serving definition I have ever encountered.
“Are liberals more intelligent than conservatives.”
No, but judging from the state of the country,ignorance is winning.
That’s no doubt why they will probably never admit that Zero was a Zero. They’ll claim ‘the party of no’ would not let the genius work etc. Or they’ll throw him under the bus but support all that he did or planned to do to us because...after all...they are legends in their own minds...
Right around the time Obama started ascending in popularity, an entrepreneur friend (she had an IQ in the 170s) chided me for not giving him ‘a chance’. She condescended - and told me that she felt ‘sorry for me’ to which I snarled ‘I don’t - he’s not qualified!’I remember open mouthed shock as I heard this Republican, intelligent woman talking about giving that little weasel a chance when I knew how high her expectations were for her own employees. Then she heard him tell Joe the Plumber that he wanted to redistribute wealth. The charm was instantly gone - she would never humor him again and couldn’t believe she ever did. Too bad the rest of the country didn’t seem to wake up.
Oh boy...
Where to begin?
In any quantitative study of this type, the truth is in the internals. For example, are not the younger respondents both more liberal and more intelligent than older respondents? If so, this would reflect long-standing differentials measured in the U.S. population at large.
But how would those of the same age and opposite political attitude compare in terms of IQ? More to the point, how would the IQs of those older citizens who report shifting to the left or right compare?
As many have speculated, I believe that if you have any wits at all, you will move to the right as you age. However, it might be really informative to note whether stupid folks move left as they get older.
Such an obverse hypothesis would make sense, given the likely expectation of dependancy (on Social Security and the like) which is almost sure to be more common among the intellectually impoverished...
The thing is, spin can only work where there are gray areas, or things that aren’t commonly known, that can be spun. Here’s where Obama’s celebrity status is a double-edged sword—he’s so well-known, that when people hear the spin on his awesomeness, they have tons of personal experience and observation with which they can counter it.
This study is complete BS, but it hardly matters. One can also have great intelligence and still have poor judgement. The two aren’t synonymous.
I do think the most ‘intelligent’ liberals have to work hard to intellectually justify their positions... always too busy counting the trees to see the forest.
You can not have a battle of wits with a liberal,they are unarmed.
“I provisionally define liberalism (as opposed to conservatism) as the genuine concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated others and the willingness to contribute larger proportions of private resources for the welfare of such others.”
An interesting statement, in that it's contradicted by the fact that "liberal" states like Massachusetts give far less in charitable contributions per person than "conservative" states like Mississippi. Of course I'm sure "liberals" have moved beyond such constraining things as facts.
I think the guy is right. Sorry, but in my experience, it’s true. Make a list of the great minds of our time, the true intellectuals, and you’ll be forced to agree.
Of course, being intelligent doesn’t make a person right. It simply means they are better at reasoning. American liberals (”conservatives”) of the Rush Limbaugh/Sarah Palin/NASCAR variety tend to be suspicious of reasoning, and of educated people. It’s a cultural thing. This is not a criticism; it’s an observation.
Perhaps someday a true American, intellectual Conservatism will rise.
While I admire your educational accomplishments, I think it’s also important to remember that education and intelligence are not necessarily identical.
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