http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2008/1...democrats.html

How accurate do you think these statistics to be? Should spark some interesting debate...

Answer: Pretty inaccurate.

First, the IQ numbers are usually derived from scores on standardized tests such as the SAT etc.. Even if real IQ numbers were used, they would be meaningless because the people we are referring to are old enough to vote which makes the IQ number somewhat irrelevant.

That leaves you with a set of numbers that would be more honestly represented as "Standardized test scores based on political party and ideology". When you consider that along with the following:

1) Higher test scores means better acceptance at/choice of University and higher learning
2) Annual Income is directly related to level of education
3) The higher your annual income, the more likely you are to be a Republican

The only conclusion that you can be left with is that Republicans are more intelligent. You'll notice also that the super liberal left wing nut jobs actually had a higher average IQ (102) than the ultra conservative gun toting right wing religious zealots(100). The left wingers in this group are probably made up of academia and mega rich idealists who think their support of left wing ideology will make the world a better place to live.

Maybe the one thing these statistics do accurately portray is that intelligent people are more convinced that they have the right answers then less intelligent people, regardless of ideology.

Just by looking at the numbers alone I would say that unless the sample size is huge those numbers are well within the margin of error.

Now looking at the means (ie the IQ test) I'd like to point out the fact that these test arn't an absolute measure of intelligence, especially when you are talking about discrepancies of less than 3 points.

And finally looking at the source. I looked at several other posts in this blog and noticed that this method of using IQ test to "prove" one group is more or less intelligent than another is a continuing theme. The whole thing reeks of confirmation bias.

The writer claims that small discrpencies in the results of IQ tests proves that "duller people are more likely to favor government intervention into private industry than more intelligent people are."

He also goes on to make claims like: "When it comes to current events, women are ignorant" and "It's troubling that men are an electoral minority in the US."

The writer also makes the (typical) claim throughout his blog that IQ tests show that white people are more intelligent than black people. People that are so quick to cite these test as proof of anything should take a good look at the origins of this pseudoscience.

I'll buy that a person with an IQ significantly above the norm is prone to be more intelligent, but I won't buy that when applied in mass these tests can prove that one group of people is definitively more intelligent than another.

IQ has been proven to be an inaccurate measure of intelligence, though it does offer some interesting speculative B.S. People with very high IQs also tend to be very dysfunctional people. Many of them end up as life-long drug-addicts. I'm talking about people in the 150-200 range.

Take Bobby Fischer. He had an IQ higher than Einstein, but his mind was totally wasted by the end of his life.