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Bush Voters Have Lower IQs
A table that breaks down states by income, average IQ, and whether they voted for Bush or Gore has been making the rounds. It appears to show, pretty dramatically, that the states with higher average incomes, and higher average IQs, voted for Gore. Whereas the lower income, lower IQ states went for Bush. The comment accompanying this table is usually 'Come to your own conclusions," or something like that. My first thought, on seeing this, was that it's awfully similar to the Lovenstein Institute IQ Report. But I suspect that the figures, in this case, might be correct... in the sense that they were produced by actual research, not just invented out of whole cloth. They appear to derive from a book published in 2002 titled IQ and the Wealth of Nations by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. I haven't actually seen a copy of this book (and since it costs $81.95 I'm probably not going to either unless I find it at the library). But the real question here seems to be whether, even if 'actual' research produced these IQ figures, do they mean anything? I've always been skeptical about IQ tests, so I would say 'No, they don't.' And I'm saying this even though I'm a Democrat.
Update: The IQ figures do not come from IQ and the Wealth of Nations, as confirmed by Richard Lynn, the book's author, whom I emailed to inquire about this. Therefore, it seems right now that the figures have actually been pulled out of thin air. In other words, it's a hoax. But it looks like The American Assembler fell for it, among others.
Update 2: The person responsible for the hoax appears to be a guy named Robert Calvert who posted the data to a Mensa newsgroup back in 2002. Presumably he did make the data up, since I haven't been able to find any info anywhere that would corroborate it.
Update: The IQ figures do not come from IQ and the Wealth of Nations, as confirmed by Richard Lynn, the book's author, whom I emailed to inquire about this. Therefore, it seems right now that the figures have actually been pulled out of thin air. In other words, it's a hoax. But it looks like The American Assembler fell for it, among others.
Update 2: The person responsible for the hoax appears to be a guy named Robert Calvert who posted the data to a Mensa newsgroup back in 2002. Presumably he did make the data up, since I haven't been able to find any info anywhere that would corroborate it.
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Categories: Politics Posted by Alex on Tue May 04, 2004 |
Comments (55) |
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
i agree with phil
Posted by john in NH on Sat Jul 03, 2004 at 09:28 PM
Okay, I am not an American, but I have to say, it seems to me a very stoopid thing to do, to vote for more of Dubya Bush!
Posted by April in New Zealand on Mon Jul 12, 2004 at 10:26 AM
April spelled "stoopid." The evidence speaks for itself. heheh
Posted by john in NH on Mon Jul 12, 2004 at 12:45 PM
Please note the post by Phillip Nolan... where he spelled "stoopid".. Hehehe, it's a joke, innit?
Posted by April in New Zealand on Tue Jul 13, 2004 at 07:17 AM
good to know
Posted by john in NH on Tue Jul 13, 2004 at 11:32 AM
This is in response to Greg's comments on Tuesday June 29, 04 at 1:41 pm: OK Greg what I want to know is what basis do you have for your remarks? No expertise or evidence to back up your comments so this goes to show just how smart someone is when they cannot back up their facts. You are sir, one of the ones who help promote hoaxes and lies. As Neal Boortz would say, you are an idiot!!!
Posted by Sheri on Mon Jul 26, 2004 at 10:51 PM
Here is a popular quote that is truely meant for this subject:
From Neals Boortz's Website:
WHY I THINK VOTING SHOULD BE RESTRICTED
This is one of my favorites. From Alexander Tyler. No, he wasn't writing about the United States. This quote is well over one hundred years old. Tyler was writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."
Posted by Sheri on Mon Jul 26, 2004 at 11:22 PM
From Neals Boortz's Website:
WHY I THINK VOTING SHOULD BE RESTRICTED
This is one of my favorites. From Alexander Tyler. No, he wasn't writing about the United States. This quote is well over one hundred years old. Tyler was writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."
Greg spelled "xenophobic" with a z. Being angry and long-winded is no excuse for not proofreading.
Posted by Dan P. on Fri Aug 13, 2004 at 03:34 PM
Most educated people tend to assume intellegence equals wisdom- the two are not connected. I would assume that Marx was a highly intellegent man...I can also point out that his highly intellegent viewpoints resulted in the deaths of over 50 million people in the last century. My point is...this study has no point.
Posted by Paul Stewart in Illinois on Fri Aug 20, 2004 at 03:46 PM
In response to Dan who said on Aug 13 that "being angry and long winded is no excuse for not proofreading", well of course those are the best reasons,Dan. I challenge you to think of better reasons not to proofread. By the way, Xenophobia can be spelled with a Z or a Greek Theta instead of Chi if one wants to.I did it in 1978 and it didn't hurt my career at all.Harry Truman did it in 1948, however, but some calm proofreader caught it and look what happenend to Harry.
Posted by Bob in USA on Sun Aug 22, 2004 at 04:09 PM
I like April's comment, Down with King Bush 
Posted by John in Orlando on Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 06:44 PM
I love it when I hear someone say that voting rights should be restricted to smart people. One can draw two conclusions from this comment: First, you believe that smart people agree with you. Second, you're not as smart as you think.
Posted by M. Berrett in One of the Stupid States on Sat Sep 18, 2004 at 10:03 PM
bush is a beggar
Posted by j in pune on Mon Sep 20, 2004 at 06:30 AM
I don
Posted by carlos in mexico city on Sun Oct 17, 2004 at 09:46 PM
. oooO..............
.....(....).. .Oooo...
......)../.....(....)....
.....(_/.......)../.....
...............(_/....... bush was here
Posted by jo on Tue Oct 26, 2004 at 07:57 PM
.....(....).. .Oooo...
......)../.....(....)....
.....(_/.......)../.....
...............(_/....... bush was here
OK, the IQ thing might be a hoax, but this isn't: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~bergen/EducationObesityBush.htm
Posted by Ben on Tue Oct 26, 2004 at 09:46 PM
Here's a really good Bush/Kerry supporter comparison. It reveals quite a bit about how Bush vs. Kerry supporters perceive events in the world...very interesting. http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Pres_Election_04/Report10_21_04.pdf
Posted by Karen Olsen in Bloomington, IN on Thu Nov 04, 2004 at 11:21 PM
85% of statistics are made up the spot.
hey, fuck you, you redneck republicans.
stay at walmart you mcdonalds eating nascar hillbillies.
ha!
Posted by Marcos in texas. yall on Fri Nov 05, 2004 at 07:47 PM
hey, fuck you, you redneck republicans.
stay at walmart you mcdonalds eating nascar hillbillies.
ha!
I find it funny that the Conservatives in this argument have class, where as the Liberals refer to us as--and I quote--"fuck you, you redneck republicans.stay at walmart you mcdonalds eating nascar hillbillies." Damn, that sounds like a reliable source.
Is it only me in this argument that finds it quite hilarious about the comparisons between the RNC and DNC? If we're so spiteful, full of hate, and just plain "lousy rednecks", then why, pray tell, were participants at the RNC trampled by LIBERAL PROTESTORS?
I'm sorry, but, correct me if I'm wrong, as I remember, there were only a handful--if any at all--of PEACEFUL demonstrations by the Republicans at the DNC. Now, can somebody please explain to me how this could possibly be? Well, perhaps the answer lies in the simple fact that REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY HAVE JOBS. Whereas quite a lot of Democrats are dependent on government support, via welfare, food stamps, etc.
OH SNAP. How could this be? I mean, I could have sworn that, as Marcos so nicely put it: "hey, fuck you, you redneck republicans. stay at walmart you mcdonalds eating nascar hillbillies." In other words condoning the entire Conservative population as lifeless hillbillies who have brains of mush. Well
butter my butt and call me a biscuit!
Sorry, but I'm not buying that bull. Although I am a church-going woman from the South, I am by no means a hillbilly, redneck, or damn cracker for that matter. Next time, Marcos, dear, please try making up your own mind. Got it?
Posted by Nicole on Wed Dec 15, 2004 at 11:34 PM
Is it only me in this argument that finds it quite hilarious about the comparisons between the RNC and DNC? If we're so spiteful, full of hate, and just plain "lousy rednecks", then why, pray tell, were participants at the RNC trampled by LIBERAL PROTESTORS?
I'm sorry, but, correct me if I'm wrong, as I remember, there were only a handful--if any at all--of PEACEFUL demonstrations by the Republicans at the DNC. Now, can somebody please explain to me how this could possibly be? Well, perhaps the answer lies in the simple fact that REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY HAVE JOBS. Whereas quite a lot of Democrats are dependent on government support, via welfare, food stamps, etc.
OH SNAP. How could this be? I mean, I could have sworn that, as Marcos so nicely put it: "hey, fuck you, you redneck republicans. stay at walmart you mcdonalds eating nascar hillbillies." In other words condoning the entire Conservative population as lifeless hillbillies who have brains of mush. Well
butter my butt and call me a biscuit!
Sorry, but I'm not buying that bull. Although I am a church-going woman from the South, I am by no means a hillbilly, redneck, or damn cracker for that matter. Next time, Marcos, dear, please try making up your own mind. Got it?
Hey guys interesting weigh in on the debates.. Just a thought, the way the states broke down I was surprised to see California getting 44% for Bush, other "smarter states" came really close to falling for Bush too even though they failed. I don't think it's fair to make mass generalizations that say one state because it voted more for Bush or more for Kerry and has a better IQ proves that they are stupid voters. Suppose, all the smart people in say Florida voted for Bush and all the dumb ones voted for Kerry... Even though Bush won.. he could have also gotten all the intelligent ones in the process. I think this study is silly and we all are allowed to vote because we are in a country that believes in free choice, autonomy, and the God given right of freedom. If you call yourself a liberal you should study Liberal theory and neutrality before you check Democrat again on your voter card.
By the way, I'm not a hick Conservative, I'm from California I live 2 minutes from the beach in Malibu, CA. I want you to know that there are a lot of intelligent Conservatives out there, I have met personally. To just say we are stupid is silly. That is a very immature argument, if you want to pick on Conservatives at least try to do it logically instead of making these huge assumptions that states that voted for Bush are "dumb." I voted for Bush here in Cali, but my vote didn't show that there are smart Conservatives here. I would bet that there are more intelligent people in California and 44% of the vote went Bush this time. I think that is more than last time with Gore. I'm not attacking the validity of the study, since I believe that already to be proven fabricated, but I'm attacking the logic of it in the first place.
I know my IQ to be much higher than what they show as a stupid Conservative. Democrats run off the ticket usually of "We will protect the disadvantaged" this works great, unless you are talking about Conservatives who have lower IQ's huh? This study basically called half the country retarded. Anyways, I want everyone to know that there are Conservatives in more than just the Bible belt, we are active, we are changing things, and yes we have Iq's over 140.
Thanks,
-Shane
Posted by SHane on Mon Dec 20, 2004 at 08:21 AM
By the way, I'm not a hick Conservative, I'm from California I live 2 minutes from the beach in Malibu, CA. I want you to know that there are a lot of intelligent Conservatives out there, I have met personally. To just say we are stupid is silly. That is a very immature argument, if you want to pick on Conservatives at least try to do it logically instead of making these huge assumptions that states that voted for Bush are "dumb." I voted for Bush here in Cali, but my vote didn't show that there are smart Conservatives here. I would bet that there are more intelligent people in California and 44% of the vote went Bush this time. I think that is more than last time with Gore. I'm not attacking the validity of the study, since I believe that already to be proven fabricated, but I'm attacking the logic of it in the first place.
I know my IQ to be much higher than what they show as a stupid Conservative. Democrats run off the ticket usually of "We will protect the disadvantaged" this works great, unless you are talking about Conservatives who have lower IQ's huh? This study basically called half the country retarded. Anyways, I want everyone to know that there are Conservatives in more than just the Bible belt, we are active, we are changing things, and yes we have Iq's over 140.
Thanks,
-Shane
We must remember as conservatives, anything we do is justified, Jesus is on our side, he will save us(the republicans) and send the liberals to hell, just as he did on 9/11 and various other atrociticies carried out by the evils of the world. I must go now i'm installing changers and slot machines in the congregational hall, and finishing my letter to Jesus, er Geroge in reference to changing finantial law allowing credit card companies, and banks to charge a 33% jesus intrest on all accounts in which me and reverend falwell will receive half the proceeds, while the other half goes to special intrest groups to fund future (republicunt) presidential campaigns.
Yours as god
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell
Posted by Pat Robertson in Heaven on Tue Mar 15, 2005 at 03:47 PM
Yours as god
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell
"85% of statistics are made up the spot." - Marcos
I agree. 10% of all people know THAT.
Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Mar 15, 2005 at 04:30 PM
I agree. 10% of all people know THAT.
Too bad greed isn't being discussed
Posted by John Beamer in New York City on Tue Nov 15, 2005 at 07:05 PM
All of you Bush haters - How is this Obama thing working out for you now? Are you scared yt?
DOn't blame me. I voted McCain.
Posted by Steve on Sat Aug 08, 2009 at 07:59 PM
DOn't blame me. I voted McCain.



