[extropy-chat] IQ as a function of political philosophy (was The NeoCon Mind-Trick)

[Jeff Davis]

--- The Avantguardian <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> It only works on the less intelligent, 

This is too easy.  I'm suspicious of smart-stupid
distinctions.  Smacks of smarminess, a sense of
dubious superiority, self-absorption, and a bunch of
other less-than-savory ego-originating attitudes all
of which have a certain me-me-me-better-smarter-faster
quality to them.  

I prefer the idea that people of all levels of
intelligence can be "stupid" when manipulated by bad
data (faulty intelligence?). 

>...but they
> comprise the majority in any democracy. 

They comprise any and all exposed to the bad data, and
in particular those who do not have the time,
inclination, or resources to hunt down the good data
and "fix the problem".  I would say that's a way large
majority.

However, the above was not the purpose of this post.

Rather, I noted your comments below, and it reminded
me of a google search that I attempted but failed at,
some time back.
 
> There was a clear positive correlation between the
> average IQs of states that voted Democrat in the
> 2004
> presidential elections and conversely an inverse
> correlation between IQ and Republican votes.
> 
> I first saw this data here:
> 
> http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.html

Starting from the following quote:

"While it is not true that all conservatives are
stupid 
   people, it is nevertheless undeniable that
practically 
       all stupid people are conservative."
                    John Stuart Mill

I looked for for the sort of data you report above. 
Data that might support or refute Mills assertion. 
Intelligence scores as a function of political
philosophy.  Red State-Blue State is a start, but the
data is way too fuzzy.  Doesn't even reach "fuzzy"
actually, since red states aren't pure red or blue
states pure blue.  I'm looking for something like ETS
or SAT scores, but where the test takers are also
identified by some red/blue, lib/con, left/right
metric.

I have to believe the data is out there, but I
couldn't find it, reliable or otherwise.  Now I see
that the link you offer is dead.  So that's no help.

Anyone else able to help out?  I know my motives come
from the dark side, but hell, if the devil is the only
one who will speak the truth, you just have to go
there.

With all the religious fundamentalists rejecting
science in favor of "revealed truth", neglecting their
thinking skills in favor of their uncritical believing
"skills", I figure they've got to be skewing
themselves down some.

It's an hypothesis.  Data anyone?

Best, Jeff Davis

"For centuries our race has built on false
assumptions.  If you build a fantasy based on false
assumptions and continue to build on such a fantasy,
your whole existence becomes a lie which you implant
in others who are too lazy or too busy to question
it's truth." - Michael Moorcock



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