Voting for Bush and Extreme Stupidity: Highly Correlated!
In the latest entry in my ongoing “things that are correlated with extreme stupidity” department, I give you this data, compiled by The American Assembler: A simple list of states, sorted by their average IQ, and colored by who they voted for in 2000.
(via MeFi)
REPLY))
WOOOOOO! Connecticut RULES! What\’s interesting about that, is that if you split it in half at the 21/22 mark, you see that the two sides are practically mirror images of each other. Of course the lower side is bigger and stretched out, but basically New Hampshire maps to New Mexico and 1-7 —> 50-39, 9-16 —> 37-27, and the rest are really obvious. Did I mention Connecticut RULES?!?
REPLY))
By the way, you should take the IQ data with a grain of salt. The site that originally posted this \”doesn\’t know\” where it got the data from. I\’ve done some searching, and I\’ve seen the same dataset posted in a few places, but without a source.
REPLY))
Its a hoax. Read the updates on isteve.com for more info.
REPLY))
I wouldn\’t say it\’s a hoax, just that the source and accuracy of the IQ numbers is questionable. I\’m guessing that American Assembler got the table from here. I guess somebody who cares could contact this \”gcharter\” person and ask them where they got the numbers from.
REPLY))
None of this changes the fact that Connecticut Rules. um…. WWWOOOOOOOOOOOO!
REPLY))
For a number of reasons, I believe the IQ data to be entirely fabricated, which qualifies it as a hoax in my opinion. First, the author of the IQ test in question knows of no comprehensive State-by-State data for his test. And furthermore, the test in question, Ravens Advanced Progressive IQ Matrices test, is designed as a test for above-average IQ individuals, and as such is not a valid metric for the population of a state at large. Most damningly, perhaps, is the fact that the results just don\’t jive with other standardized test results, like the National Assessment of Educational Progress test given to 8th graders, which show red states and blue states to be virtually equal. Utah, for instance, ranks near the top according to the NAEP tests.
I don\’t believe it to be a left-wing conspiracy on the part of the bloggers who originally posted the chart, just that the originator of the whole thing made it all up. People who post stuff like this could do a little fact-checking though :)
REPLY))
christ people. chill. it was obviously meant to be a joke. ^_^ i thought it was funny.
REPLY))
Please email me the sheet music to mario, right now.
REPLY))
From the American Assembler web site:
“I’m the one who posted the IQ chart correlating IQ and votes in the 2000 election. As the “humor” contributor, I am the one that tracks down amusing stories or cartoons to post here at the American Assembler.
When I posted this chart I had no idea the ruckus it would cause from both the left, who opposed conjuring up the whole IQ business, and the right, who opposed the supposed stats.
As this has gotten a bit out of hand, I feel, and the editors feel, that I should take responsibility for posting this thing and clarify my reasons and intents about using what is clearly suspect data in the first place.
It was irresponsible of me to post this chart in this format and I apologize to the American Assembler and it’s readers for having done so. It was never my intent for anyone to take this seriously and I erred in judgment in not realizing that people would. Even if this chart is not a hoax, as it most probably is, it was inappropriate to post it for it is simply offensive.
I now agree with some readers, and my editors, that, while I thought this would be a bit of amusing banter, it is damaging to the credibility of the Assembler and distracting from the real issues facing our country. My attempt to mock Republicans for voting for George Bush by posting suspect IQ data was not funny or constructive.
It is not the position of the American Assembler that there is any relevance whatsoever to any attempt to correlate intelligence or academic achievement with political leanings.”
Once again, please accept my apologies for bad judgment and bad taste.
Sincerely,
Bill Well
bill_well@bellsouth.net
http://americanassembler.com/features/
——————————————————————-
From the Museum of Hoaxes:
Bush-Voters-Have-Lower-IQs Hoax Runs its Course
The Bush-voters-have-lower-IQs hoax appears to have run its course. The editor at American Assembler who posted the table that got the whole firestorm going has posted an abject apology. Meanwhile I’ve still been trying to contact Robert Calvert, the guy who originally posted the IQ/election data two years ago on rec.org.mensa, to see if he would admit that he made it up. But no luck. He doesn’t reply to email. So the possibility hangs out there that he got the info from some obscure source that no one else has been able to find. But this possibility seems vanishingly small to me, especially when you consider the character of Calvert’s other Usenet postings, many of which relate to the topic of IQ (it seems to be a pet subject of his). For instance, in this post he muses on the possibility that blondes really do have lower IQs than brunettes. At the end of this post he makes some offhand remarks suggesting that blacks “are substantially less intelligent than average.” And in this post he expresses his belief that multiculturalism is all a Jewish plot to lower the average IQ of Americans. So he seems like a really charming and credible guy (not!… I get a creepy feeling just reading through his rantings). But if you think about it, it’s amazing how this (presumably fake) election/IQ data, originating from a wildly eccentric source, managed to lie dormant for a year and a half and then sweep suddenly through the blogosphere.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/
REPLY))
US Election Results by IQ
Ok, this is just damned funny.
2004 Presidential Election Results by IQ
Hey, the numbers don’t lie! lol
Be sure and link to it, if you can.
joe
REPLY))
The state by state IQ numbers appear to be 100% bogus. They were originally posted by this guy Robert Calvert to Usenet, possibly as a troll, but when pressed for his source, or methodology, he had nothing to say.
REPLY))
I suspect the original IQ data was intended to be a parody of theories
that IQ differences are responsible for differences in the wealth of nations. The posted IQs are almost proportional to the actual data for stat per capita incomes .
REPLY))
Right, it’s interesting to note that even if the facts were true, the numbers correspond to economic wealth. Connecticut is a wealthy state, whereas Mississippi is poor. This chart could be taken two ways – that Bush supporters are stupid or that Bush supports the poor and underprivileged of the country.
REPLY))
If you look at percentage of students that were awarded National Merit Scholar for being in the top 1% of students nationwide the results are interesting:
1 Utah – 3.8%
2 California – 3.2%
3 Mississippi – 2.9%
4 Oklahoma – 2.6%
5 Arkansas – 2.5%
46 New York – 0.8%
47 Delaware – 0.8%
48 New Jersey – 0.8%
49 Massachusetts – 0.8%
50 Connecticut – 0.7%
These are real facts. Look’em up. Statewide National Merit Scholar 2005.
Seems like Connecticut is actually the dumbest and Utah is the smartest. Quite funny.
Actually I vote for Kerry though. I guess I voted along with the stupid people.
I was a National Merit Scholar though.