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News & ArtsMonday, January 30, 2012
Science Maybe You're a Bigot Because You're Dumb?
Posted by Eli Sanders on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 6:00 AM
There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.
Also, according to this study: "Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies."
4
It's not surprising that people fear what they don't understand. Fear is a basic, innate emotion and fulfills some survival adaptation. So it would stand to reason that education can overcome emotion, in many cases, by bringing understanding. The biggest problem are those that denegrate education.
5
Linking to an opinion piece that attempts to distill a scientific study is pretty lazy. Not a single statistic from the study or a link to the study from that article. I'll just assume the less educated from the study were minorities.
7
I am a member of Mensa. Trust me: there is racism and other forms of bigotry among the membership. Maybe not as much as you would find in the community as a whole, but being intelligent does not automatically make one a liberal or a compassionate human being.
8
@7 That is strictly pointed out in the story. "the researchers aren't implying that all liberals are brilliant and all conservatives stupid. The research is a study of averages over large groups, he said."
10
@5 - Google is your friend:
Lead researcher on the paper, Gordon Hodson - http://www.brocku.ca/psychology/people/h…
Review of paper at Live Science - http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelli…
The abstract of the paper "Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes" published by Psychological Science on January 5, 2012 (subscription or purchase required to read entire study) - http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/201…
Lead researcher on the paper, Gordon Hodson - http://www.brocku.ca/psychology/people/h…
Review of paper at Live Science - http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelli…
The abstract of the paper "Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes" published by Psychological Science on January 5, 2012 (subscription or purchase required to read entire study) - http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/201…
12
This has been demonstrated in other studies: inverse correlation between level of education and possession of prejudicial beliefs. It's common sense- you expose yourself to new ideas, they become less threatening because you understand them. It seems like the most obvious thing in the world.
I would like nothing better that for the fox news zombies to get a real education and realize how they are manipulated repeatedly by Fox News, hate radio, Drudge, etc. Wouldn't they be pissed? I mean, you think they would. Of course, I'd also think any self-respecting citizen would want to better themselves- at least admit to themselves education is a worthwhile activity! But I could be wrong.
I've felt for some time that if an education person is spewing hateful ignorance, it's only because they are manipulating someone. It has nothing to do with their beliefs. Now, with someone like Ron Paul, the hatred seems so convincing- years and reams of the stuff. Perhaps he simply courted the haters for their votes. That doesn't exonerate him in any way, of course.
I would like nothing better that for the fox news zombies to get a real education and realize how they are manipulated repeatedly by Fox News, hate radio, Drudge, etc. Wouldn't they be pissed? I mean, you think they would. Of course, I'd also think any self-respecting citizen would want to better themselves- at least admit to themselves education is a worthwhile activity! But I could be wrong.
I've felt for some time that if an education person is spewing hateful ignorance, it's only because they are manipulating someone. It has nothing to do with their beliefs. Now, with someone like Ron Paul, the hatred seems so convincing- years and reams of the stuff. Perhaps he simply courted the haters for their votes. That doesn't exonerate him in any way, of course.
13
Talking about only the intelligence aspect, of course (noting that education and intelligence overlap but not totally) can downplay the emotional benefits that bigots receive. You have, for instance, the comfort of your superiority over others - no matter how fucked up your life is, YOU have worked for what you have and YOU are better than THEM. There's also the social reinforcement - if everyone you know says this stuff and critiquing it will be uncomfortable, there's also the social bonding that happens when people rant together about the same thing. Actually, in many cases it is probably the intelligent (if unconscious) choice to refuse to address racism, given one's social milieu. It isn't intelligent from the standpoint of logical argumentation or sophisticated understanding of certain contexts, but it is very intelligent if you need to maintain certain social relationships.
14
@2, cheer up - Keck's refusal to fund a Slog editor helps keep it humble-ish. Plus gives commenters generous opportunities to point and laugh. Constructively, of course. Always constructively.
15
@13 - I think you nailed it (if I understand what you are arguing). Intelligence might have some correlation with truly being less racist but it almost certainly has a correlation with being smart enough not to be truthful with a researcher that you might have racist feelings. Other than violence, what is the most odious consequence of racism? It isn't some dumb hick sitting in a trailer being an ignorant bigot blaming his problems on someone else. It's the failed public school system (full of 'educated' people) and the 'soft racism' of everyday life that makes life more difficult for minorities.
16
It's not racism, it's not prejudice, it's not about being dumb, It's policy and religious freedom. Have you not been listening!
18
Brockman: Scientists say they're also less attractive physically, and while we speak in a more educated manner, they tend to use lowbrow expressions like "Oh yeah" and "Come here a minute."
19
They should have stuck with education. I'm shocked all the time that anyone a) still try to measure intelligence and b) take those measurements seriously.
21
I guess it seems like the vast majority of my friends are serious liberals with hefty educations. I see many of them as highly intelligent. Unfortunately, they're all still bigots. Just not in the traditional sense of feeling like they're better than a black person might be. Instead, they feel this way about people with opposing political or religious beliefs. I know a woman that thinks she's smarter than religious people, simply because she doesn't believe in a god, and this, somehow, makes her more intelligent.
Don't fools yourselves. Social conservatives are every bit as intelligent as their liberal counterparts; they just don't view things the same way.
Personally, I think both conservative and liberals are idiots. The real intelligence lies with those trying to bridge the gap between these two radical sections. I think that liberals and conservatives view each other's opinions as unrealistic and stupid. Well guess what, you're both right! You both win!
Don't fools yourselves. Social conservatives are every bit as intelligent as their liberal counterparts; they just don't view things the same way.
Personally, I think both conservative and liberals are idiots. The real intelligence lies with those trying to bridge the gap between these two radical sections. I think that liberals and conservatives view each other's opinions as unrealistic and stupid. Well guess what, you're both right! You both win!
22
@9 I think that politicians have proven that you can educate dumbasses all you want but it won't raise their overall intelligence.
23
@21
It's a type of logical fallacy, the argument that every answer must somehow lie in the middle between two dichotomously opposed goal-posts--and the more middling the better. Thankfully for it, you've found a way to feel more righteous than either conservatives or liberals.
As an addendum to this thread: there seems to be some confusion between innate intelligence and level of education. I would suggest reading Corey Robin's "The Reactionary Mind" for a fuller discussion of conservative intelligence, much as it galled me to sit through his incompetent reading and characterizing of Nietzsche.
It's a type of logical fallacy, the argument that every answer must somehow lie in the middle between two dichotomously opposed goal-posts--and the more middling the better. Thankfully for it, you've found a way to feel more righteous than either conservatives or liberals.
As an addendum to this thread: there seems to be some confusion between innate intelligence and level of education. I would suggest reading Corey Robin's "The Reactionary Mind" for a fuller discussion of conservative intelligence, much as it galled me to sit through his incompetent reading and characterizing of Nietzsche.
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