This is really creepy

[firecat]

This is a chart of "average IQ by state" and whether the state supported Bush or Gore. I'm not sure which is more creepy, that there is an "average IQ by state" measure at all, or that it correlates so closely with election returns.

http://americanassembler.com/features/iq_state_averages.htm

Comments

[geekchick]

I'm not sure which is more creepy

I vote C.) All of the above. Eep.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I love partisan reporting, especially when it's so blatantly unashamed.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

iirc, all of those scores are within a standard deviation of "normal", which means that effectively it doesn't mean anything.

erg. if rivka doesn't come look at this soon, i'll get my dad (stats geek extraordinaire) to explain it and i'll post here, because i seem to be reduced to waving my arms and chirping.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

i seem to be reduced to waving my arms and chirping.

I would pay to see that in person.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Just come to WisCon. I can pretty much guarantee it will happen there.

[kalikanzara.livejournal.com]

Clesest I could find to "smartest state" was http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank03.htm, and in there the ranking moves quite a bit year to year, so I'm also wondering about the numbers, their source, and, as kalmn mentioned, their meaning.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The "intelligence ranking by state" comes from a book which claims that poor countries are poor because the average IQ in that country is lower than in rich countries.

I've not read the book, but I can see a number of ways in which that may be falacious. . .

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I agree with kalmn that the statistics make me want to chirp.

I wonder how they counted and who they counted. Grad students and young professionals, for example, are a fairly transient population, so they might not get counted. On the other hand, they might not register to vote, or might not be eligible to vote because they aren't US citizens.

I think it's weird that the right-wing party is red and the centre one is blue, because in Canada it's the other way around (with the left-of-centre NDP being orange, of course.)

To the extent that IQ measurement instruments are culturally biased, I wonder if a case could be made that they are biased against Republicans?

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

I categorically don't believe these measurements, and appreciate the people who have statistical backing for my belief. IQ is such a tainted measurement in the first place ...

I hate it when "my side" are the jerks.