Germans are brainiest (but at least we're smarter than the French)

London Times ^ | 3/27/2006 | Helen Nugent

[Vicomte13]

Another neat comparison would be to stack up percentage of population living in urban areas with IQ.

In other words, city folks are smarter than country bumpkins.

[gotribe]

I see Turkey near the bottom. Is there an IQ survey of muslim countries?

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

As I keep telling my kids, "Attitude is everything."

Looking at this list, I'm convinced that China will eat all their lunches due to its work ethic and open-mindedness to others' ideas (to a fault).

By comparison, Europe's greatest flaws are its pridefulness and sloth.

[Savage Beast]

"In other words, city folks are smarter than country bumpkins."

Or more likely, vice versa.

[PzLdr]

The Geico Gekko is smarter than the French. And he neither speaks French, nor has forgotten he used to speak German.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Intelligence without wisdom is practically/usually a vice.

A sentiment with which I concur.

[SkyPilot]

"I mean, who doesn't want Free pie and chips? There's pie, and there's chips. For Free."

[Paladin2]

Who was Alexander Bellski?

[Avenger]

Ok, here's a politically incorrect issue that has been bugging me recently. I hope no one takes it in the wrong way. Here it is:

Most people don't have a problem admitting that intelligence runs in families and most scientists agree that there is a strong hereditary component of intelligence. So based on that, why do we find it so disturbing/unacceptable that there may be significant differences in average intelligence between ethnic/racial subgroups that cannot be explained by environmental or cultural factors? Why do we find that so much more disturbing than the inherent, and widely acknowledged, inequity that nature imposes on individuals (i.e. some are smart and some are not, some are physically strong and some are not.) Personally, I would like to believe that there were no significant differences between various racial/ethnic subgroups but apriori I see no rational scientific reason to believe this is the case; I want to believe because it makes me feel comfortable. But what if this assumption is false? What are/will be the consequences? And what is the best way to handle it? Is it best just to ignore it and wait for latter generations to deal with it? Or will it just go away on its own?

[Clemenza]

I'm willing to bet that Scotland is the brainiest of all of the UK countries, though I could be wrong.

[Jabba the Nutt]

I'm hiding this article from my Besserwisser (know-it-all) German wife. I'd never hear the end of it.

[hinckley buzzard]

Bill Clinton is amazingly smart.

I have never seen a putative IQ score for slickWillie. When test scores have come out for brightboys like Kerry and Gore, they tend to have been rather embarrassing for the pundits of conventional wisdom. Clinton would not score well on standard subtests of intelligence which would include judgment, attention span, general information, immediate memory, probably math, and conversion of digital information to arbitrary novel symbols. He was very good at social perception and emotional intuitiveness, reading and manipulating people, which is why the media whores still love him. But lets face it, in 8 years he came up with not one new or creative idea, and accomplished nothing. Whoever coined the cliche "Talk's cheap" had some one very much like Billyboy in mind. He ended up sputtering in his SOTU about uniforms for schoolchildren.

Intelligence without wisdom is practically/usually a vice.

Yes, or at least a dangerous weapon.

[mikrofon]

"Ich bin ein Bigbrainer"

[To Hell With Poverty]

Okay I'll bite - who?

[Paladin2]

He was the first telephone pole. ;-)

[Paladin2]

Ooops,

That should'a been Alexander GRAHAM Bellski.

[To Hell With Poverty]

Ha ha, I got it anyway!!

[Vicomte13]

I would've been willing to bet that the Scots were smartest too.

Unfortunately, being a pea-brained Frenchman, I was unable to comprehend that the article actually answered that question, and the answer was that the English are smartest, and the Welsh and Scots drag down the British average. It's actually right there in the text, but a stupid Frenchman has to read everything three times to perhaps understand it.

[Petronski]

Poland's number 3....who knew?

The Poles, mostly, and that's about it.

[Petronski]

Does cranial size really correspond to intelligence?

Because I wear an 8 3/8 ball cap...special made.