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General discussion (archive)Study links low intelligence with right-wing beliefs(75 posts)(75 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 22, 2012
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predcon: Rick Santorum makes us all look bad.
From an outside perspective. it was actually Newt Gingrich that made the US look like complete twats.
Posted February 22, 2012
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jcdenton11: I think extremists on either side are equally full of shit and keep the US circling the drain.
Maybe US would need a state (Christian) church. At least down here (lutheran state church, I think orthodox is also "state") it seems to make the whole christianity, religion, atheism etc. issues quite uninteresting to common people, and any extremists on either side are just dismissed and automatically considered insane.

Even the Christian party here seems to be quite non-vocal, they mostly just want bars to close their doors a bit earlier on weekends etc., not trying to force "intelligent design" to schools or bombing abortion clinics.

Could be also that it is just related to local passive mindset, and severe weather. I mean, come on, who'd want to go out demonstrate when it is freezing? You can always demonstrate on Facebook instead.
Post edited February 22, 2012 by timppu
Posted February 22, 2012
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orcishgamer: Didn't read it, doesn't matter, this shit almost always turns out to be a hoax. Sometimes it even turns out to be clever. I always suspect anything pandering to my preconceived notions like I expect the Spanish Inquisition, which is to say, I expect it like VD from a lot of really fun but stupid and irresponsible sex.
I'm thinking hoax too, especially as any links between political inclinations and education are always going to be skewed by ethnological concerns.

The study fits the bill though here in Germany, where it was empirically proven that the vast majority of far-right voters were unemployed and had a low level of education.

Almost the same was proven in the UK (albeit with unemployment playing less of a role), and the British political statistics agency YouGov also found some interesting statistics on how people voting the far-right parties in the UK were party to rather ridiculous but highly widespread ideas.

The correlation between political affiliation and newspaper readership was also interesting. The majority of BNP voters in the UK read racist rags like The Sun and the Daily Star, while in Germany we don't really have a newspaper alongside those lines, because the government comes down hard on any hint of xenophobia. We have the Bild-Zeitung, but it's more sensationalist than politically charged, even if the newspaper does tend towards the CDU in its views. But then, calling the CDU in Germany "right-wing" is like calling the Democrats "socialist".
Posted February 22, 2012
I glanced through the study and felt my bs detector loudly blaring.

For starters there are many, many different types of intelligence. Someone may be intelligent in one area but a dithering idiot in another. A surgeon can be the best in his field but put him out in the woods as a surveyor and he could be lost. Vice versa with the the surveyor working as a surgeon. Does that make either one of them stupid? No, it doesn't, they know what they need to know for their respective jobs.

Dr. Howard Gardner came up with a list of different intellegences:

1. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)
3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)
4. Existential Intelligence
5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”)
6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)
http://skyview.vansd.org/lschmidt/Projects/The%20Nine%20Types%20of%20Intelligence.htm

The results just do not make sense, because intelligence is relative and very broad. How do they define intelligence? This study seems to suggest that there is a correct level of intelligence, when in reality people have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Also some people freeze up on tests, but do fine on the job otherwise.
Posted February 22, 2012
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timppu: *snip*
There's also free education and medical stuff. You don't have to come up with explanations to why you're not sending little Billy to college or Kid to the hospital :p
Posted February 22, 2012
Only read the OP but I find the linking of "structure and order" with right-wing to be pretty silly. Liberals support big government structure and order as much as Conservatives, just for different reasons.

Anyway, overall I would probably agree with the general sentiment.
Posted February 22, 2012
Definitely Ron Paul, Margharet Thatcher, Ronald Reagan are/were less inteligent than Nicolas Sarkozy for instance (lol'd hard)

and right wing shouldn't always mean "conservative" , cause libertarians are also on the right wing.
Post edited February 22, 2012 by keeveek
Posted February 22, 2012
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bevinator: Yeah I consider myself a moderate liberal and I found this study's definition of "right-wing" to be pretty offensive. Apparently you have to be a bigot to even be considered! And the inclusion of authoritarianism into "right-wing" is also a little odd, considering how many conservatives are opposed to industry regulations (for any industry) and the like.
I take it you haven't been paying any attention to politics in the US. Various types of bigotry and hate have been their bread and butter for a while now. Individual conservatives may not hold all or any of those views, but at very least every time the GOP picks up votes on their platform it encourages them to keep it up.
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jcdenton11: I think extremists on either side are equally full of shit and keep the US circling the drain. One side comes in, bickers and gets nothing productive done, gets voted out by the public for the other side who get tired of them. Lather rinse repeat. At their cores, both parties are run by career politicians who acquire power for power's sake, no matter their banner.
What extremists on the left? I know they exist, but they have basically no pull in government and mostly comprise of people like ELF, ALF and PETA. In terms of actual influence on the government it would be difficult to find anybody with less actual clout.

OTOH, extremists on the right regularly get elected to positions as high as President and have been pulling the US political system further and further to the right as the "liberals" compromise with them hoping to get something done.
Post edited February 22, 2012 by hedwards
Posted February 22, 2012
I guess some of these distinctions between "left" and "right" can get a bit simplified, not to mention the different meanings they might have in different countries. Context might be important.

I think you can find individuals with high IQ (just to pick something which I think is a core issue when it comes to intelligence) almost all over the political spectrum in a given country. I don't know much about the distribution, though. I expect to find few among radicals in "both ends," but other than that I'm not sure what to think. Maybe I'm also stretching the meaning of IQ here.

Perhaps the manner in which some right-wing populists tend to communicate with voters applies more to people with low education and such. On the other hand (unless I'm completely mistaken), there are some people on the far left who continue to wish for a dictatorship of the proletariat in developed countries with e.g. a more or less working social democratic government. I'm not quite sure that would make things even better, to say it carefully.

I guess much of this comes down to attitudes and morals.
Posted February 22, 2012
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jamyskis: Almost the same was proven in the UK (albeit with unemployment playing less of a role), and the British political statistics agency YouGov also found some interesting statistics on how people voting the far-right parties in the UK were party to rather ridiculous but highly widespread ideas.

The correlation between political affiliation and newspaper readership was also interesting. The majority of BNP voters in the UK read racist rags like The Sun and the Daily Star, while in Germany we don't really have a newspaper alongside those lines, because the government comes down hard on any hint of xenophobia. We have the Bild-Zeitung, but it's more sensationalist than politically charged, even if the newspaper does tend towards the CDU in its views. But then, calling the CDU in Germany "right-wing" is like calling the Democrats "socialist".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL1jDcAHkc8
Posted February 22, 2012
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FraterPerdurabo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL1jDcAHkc8
That's EDL, not BNP, but the idea is sound. The EDL are just fucking wasters and headcases anyway.

I lol'd at the video by the way. I want one of those muslamic ray guns.
Posted February 22, 2012
So, if the researchers were right-winged themselves, they would find a connection between low intelligence and left-wing beliefs, right?
Posted February 22, 2012
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klaymen: So, if the researchers were right-winged themselves, they would find a connection between low intelligence and left-wing beliefs, right?
Or they would buried their study deep underground.
Post edited February 22, 2012 by keeveek
Posted February 22, 2012
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FraterPerdurabo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL1jDcAHkc8
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jamyskis: That's EDL, not BNP, but the idea is sound. The EDL are just fucking wasters and headcases anyway.

I lol'd at the video by the way. I want one of those muslamic ray guns.
I know.

But yeah, I want one too!
Posted February 22, 2012
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FraterPerdurabo: Eh... Right-wing doesn't necessarily mean socially conservative, nor does it necessarily mean racist.
Which one could easily back up by taking a look at which ideology / party gave more support to the Civil Rights Act. (Hint: it was the "bigoted" GOP.) As Frater points out, it's not as simple as the study wants us to believe.

Likewise, I have opinions that would piss off either side, so what does that make me? I mean, I consider myself right-leaning but I advocate for gay marriage rights in civil matters. So I'm dumber than a box of rocks for wanting smaller federal gummint but I'm a fookin' genius because I feel gays shouldn't be treated as second-class citizens? My head all-asplodey!

Anyway, pigeon-holing this stuff is pointless. Plenty of "intelligent" people from all ideologies have done plenty of stupid and harmful things over the years. Plenty of "average" thinkers have turned out to be quite good decision-makers.
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General discussion (archive)Study links low intelligence with right-wing beliefs(75 posts)(75 posts)
(75 posts)