State votes ranked by IQ

19 Responses

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1. Gordon said

   on May 6, 2004

   You know, I wonder if we line up what states that tend to dumb down test to protect the students “Self-esteem” and re-norm the test if the IQ number’s shake out differently.

2. Gordon said

   on May 6, 2004

   Ouch!

   (From the author of the above chart)

   “Skin color and intelligence in African Americans. Population and Environment, 2002, 23, 365-375. Presents new evidence showing conclusively for the first time that lighter skinned blacks have higher IQs than darker skinned blacks. This supports the theory that the proportion of white ancestry is a determinant of the intelligence of African Americans.”

   Nope no axes to grind here… nope…

3. Robert said

   on May 6, 2004

   I always knew Washington was better than California…

4. Chas Redmond said

   on May 6, 2004

   A more telling comparison would have been state-wide average IQ versus dollars spent per pupil. That chart would look pretty much the same alas - see link for a list of state spending discrepancies based on national average. The states with low discrepancies are pretty much the same ones with high average IQ’s. It’s also sad that the Republican-dominated states seem so disinclined to spend dollars for education - which means they really ARE STUPID. That is not as incontrovertible as you make it seem.

5. Chas Redmond said

   on May 6, 2004

   sorry about the double post - something weird with typepad’s “post” making me click twice - also - the last line should read “this is MORE incontrovertible than you make it seem.” which is to say, the facts actually DO speak volumes.

6. Tim Who? said

   on May 6, 2004

   Only one state with an average IQ over 100 voted for Bush and No state with and average IQ under 92 voted for Gore.

   “Obviously, there are a number of reasons — mathematical, statistical, and scientific — why a chart like this shouldn’t be taken terribly seriously.”

   I sure would like to see those reasons, because right now this chart speaks volumes to me.

7. Michael Hanscom said

   on May 6, 2004

   I sure would like to see those reasons, because right now this chart speaks volumes to me.

   There’s quite a few, actually, many of which are pointed out in the MetaFilter thread that I picked the graph up from. Just to pick a few quotes from that thread…

   Anyone have the pedophile-population-density-by-state-correlated-with-election-winner graph handy?

   In other words, pick two statistics, slap ‘em together in a chart, and instantly they look like they’re related, whether or not they really have anything to do with each other. Admittedly, IQ might actually relate to voting tendencies more than instances of pedophilia, but still.

   There is absolutely no way that an IQ survey of each state is even (1) remotely accurate, or (2) remotely correlative to intelligence. Bad science makes for ugly politics

   It is well known that IQ is not a relevant way to measure “true” intelligence, and that many factors go into determining the political makeup of a stare’s electorate, including historic tradition, perceived affinity with the candidate, differences in campaign targetting, media influence, and haha ha hahaha ha ha ha!

   I’ve seen plenty of “smart” people say and do all kinds of stupid shit (myself included). Sometimes I think the main use people put their superior intellect to is coming up with rationalizations for stupidity.

   And of course, there are all kinds of intelligences. And the list dosen’t account for the fact that things like malnutrition and poor education can negatively effect IQ. And like someone else said brains does not neccessarily translate into moral fiber or even good company. I’ve met some smart people who were rotten motherfuckers and some people who’d score low on IQ tests who were stand-up guys. I will grant that mean and stupid is a lethal combination.

   The end of that second one cracks me up, but all three address the same point: IQ is a pretty questionable rating scale in and of itself, many people don’t put much stock in it at all, and someone’s IQ isn’t necessarily going to have anything to do with how they vote. There’s also the question of who was taking the IQ tests in the first place:

   Neither Mississippi public schools, nor any other state institutions, force IQ tests on the bulk of its younger population. They are only required, I believe, in establishing cases of mental retardation.

   And lastly, as Gordon alluded to in his comment, the source for the IQ data doesn’t seem to be unbiased:

   I encourage those of you who are taking this chart with any degree of seriousness to click on the link at the top of the article, and read some of the critical reviews on amazon for the book in quesiton. It’s a book that seems to, among other things, posit that the continent of Africa in general has an average IQ below the global norm. And it hardly even has to be said that a book with such a premise was most likely written from an agenda hostile to certain ethnic backgrounds, not out of a desire to advance our understanding of history.

   There’s more points (discussion, argument) in that MeFi thread, and it looks to be getting more interesting as it grows. End result though, at least for me, is what while it’s a fairly entertaining little graph, it’s also rather meaningless when closely analyzed.

8. Dan said

   on May 7, 2004

   I must disagree with the results of this chart.

   I live in Connecticut and there is no way the average person here has an IQ of 113.

9. kirsten said

   on May 7, 2004

   i understand why it might be coincidental - like peanut butter sales and skirt-length fad trends as representations of the health of the economy (hmm, i’m out of peanut butter, wonder what that means?)

10. Michael Hanscom said

    on May 7, 2004

    Means you’re gonna have some really dry sandwiches today.

11. PV said

    on May 7, 2004

    I live in Oklahoma

12. Patrick Wilken said

    on May 9, 2004

    In case you don’t know already know, the data in the IQs are fake. Interesting to see how the fact that the table matches various prejudices (smart people voted for Bush, people in the south have lower IQs than the north etc) allows us to uncritically accept the data.

13. Richard said

    on May 10, 2004

    As Patrick already stated this was a hoax (that many fell for). If you want the real data, try here.

14. Paul Kim said

    on August 25, 2004

    Survey after survey showed that college graduates, with at least a bachelors degree, voted in favor of Bush while high school dropouts voted in favor for Gore. Gore did win the post-graduate votes though.

15. Ben said

    on October 26, 2004

    Check out this analysis of education, race, obesity, and Walmart-shopping as predictors of votes for Bush.

16. BJ said

    on November 6, 2004

    Our local talk-show host on Air America read this entire 2004 list of IQ’s and correlation on how they voted……..I was laughing my butt of in my car! =)

17. Muktar said

    on July 26, 2005

    You all are stupid, this was a hoax. Just cuz you see something doesn’t mean that it is 100% true or accurate.

    The sky is falling! So therefore it must be. Yeah, its funny, maybe if you are a democrat with an axe to grind against Bush.. but other than that… its plain stupid.

18. Omar said

    on September 16, 2008

    It’s true; it is a hoax. Read about it here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/stateiq.asp

Continuing the Discussion

1. eclecticism linked to this post on November 4, 2004

   IQ redux

   A little curious about what was causing a traffic spike, I checked out my referrers and search terms. Turns out that the majority of the spike is caused by people searching for information on how states voted combined with the state’s average IQ, which…