Question:
Who has the higher IQ: a conservative or a liberal?
Lank
2012-05-31 01:07:28 UTC
If you were to select two guys at random and ask for their stance, will the left leaning individual have the higher IQ than the other?
22 answers:
Red Fox Ace
2012-06-02 12:06:55 UTC
You might as well ask, "Who has a higher IQ, someone whose favorite color is red or someone whose favorite color is green?" It's an impossible question to answer from the data given.





Furthermore, I think you ask this question for the purpose of inciting anger or provoking a heated response.
2014-03-02 15:14:58 UTC
Speaking in generalities, liberals are the more educated group and tend to have higher IQs according to some recent studies.

There is actually a difference between the brains of liberals and conservatives. Conservatives tend to have a larger fear center, and fear is one thing that leads to conservative tendencies.

This is also why universities and educated people tend to be more liberal. They have been exposed to more things, thus they fear less of those things. Meanwhile people who live in rural areas and the less educated people tend to be more conservative because they have more unknown things, and we tend to fear the unknown.

Also, if you look at a breakdown of average IQ by state, you will see that the red states are all near the bottom of the list, while the blue states are all near the top. This also correlates with education rankings by state.

Of course this does not mean that all conservatives are dumb and all liberals are smart. Obviously it is not that simple. But statistically speaking, liberals are generally more intelligent and more educated than conservatives.
2012-05-31 01:33:33 UTC
There's never been a legitimate study claiming liberals have higher IQs. Most I've seen say they're roughly equal.



But, liberals tend to dominate among the uneducated. (In 08 Obama won 63-35 among high school drop-outs as has every Democrat going back to at least 1976.That was his widest margin)



What brings the liberal IQ up to equal conservatives is the fact that college is 4 years of liberal brainwashing. Most kids come out of college thinking they're liberal. However, as they get older and gain practical knowledge to match their theoretical knowledge and IQ they generally identify themselves as conservative. Liberalism is based on an immature understanding of the world. Once people mature that is usually corrected.



So, to answer your question, If you look at raw IQ at a stated point in time would be roughly equal. However, if you look at people over the course of their lifetimes conservatives would undeniably be much more intelligent. The only people who stay liberals for their entire lives are either complete morons, people who self-identified as liberal so strongly when they were young that they can't change and people who never had enough life experience to develop a practical knowledge of the world and instead live in a theoretical fantasy world (ie college professors). That's a different kind of stupid but stupid nontheless.
2012-05-31 01:23:10 UTC
I'm sure George Will has a very high IQ, as does Paul Krugman.



It makes no difference what one's political opinions are. That's to say, there is no correlation.



I'm bound to get some thumbs down from plenty of people with very low IQ's however.
TicToc....
2012-05-31 01:17:07 UTC
My pick nor any ones pick would not be random no matter what precautions we took. Bias would always play a part so on balance you will get roughly half saying liberals are smarter and 100% of all those who answered your question saying either conservative or liberals would be wrong.
Anna, the wicked Libertarian
2012-05-31 02:14:49 UTC
Liberals tend to have a higher IQ.
The Crawling Chaos
2012-05-31 08:04:15 UTC
I'd say the Right would, but I'm biased. For one thing, Lefties seem awfully Romantic(which almost by definition is anti-reason). The Left and Romanticism are nearly the same thing..I mean, hundreds of years ago they said Socialism was the political arm of Romanticism, and they were always "fellow travelers". Even modern lefties express deeply Romantic ways of thinking, and I consider that a SERIOUS negative checkmark against the Left. They're quite emotional, and don't think about systems so much(like economics). Look at Occupiers blaming problems on other people and expressing a "BUT I WANT IT!!! NOW!!!" brat mentality. Spoiled brats. When reality finally told them no, they didn't know how to handle it. They'd never heard that word before. As parents raise even wussier children, expect the ranks of the unwashed Occupiers to grow.



Also, one of the studies that suggested Leftists had higher IQs, the one that came out within the last two years? Turns out they weren't judging on political persuasion, the study was skewed. It seems to be politics should be based on actual political positions, but Leftists don't like that for some freakish reason. The study I'm referring to stated that people more likely to give generally had higher IQs, and concluded those people were Leftists. Problem is, religious people are usually the most charitable, and religious people lean....Republican. In fact, a book called "Who Really Cares?" by Arthur Brooks is chock full of statistics on charitable giving...and even tolerance of others. Turns out for all their talk, Leftists aren't on the GIVING end of hand outs, it's religious conservatives that are at the head of the pack. This may seem off-subject, but given that the study deceptively used charitable giving as a means of showing Leftists had a higher IQ..it seems the study's conclusions should have been the reverse. But that's what happens when people collecting data fall prey to propaganda and "conventional wisdom" on what constitutes "right" and "left". So the study really shows conservatives have the higher IQ. If one puts faith in the study at all. I have a feeling if you look closely at these sort of studies(at how data was collected, assumptions made, etc.) you'll find they're really dodgy, whatever leftists say about it.



Keep in mind years ago, it was said Kerry was smarter than Bush..but a study that used Bush/Kerry's military scores to extrapolate an IQ said Bush probably had the higher IQ.



Although I'm not sure this is partisan..for one thing, people pick up politics from regions/families just like anything else, and some smart people have said stupid things(usually authorities who expressed opinions outside of their fields, and said opinions seemed amateurish). I've met Leftists and Right wingers who had similar personal qualities in how they formed judgments, what they thought was a GOOD argument, etc. If you watch closely, sometimes you can hear them talk similarly.
balom
2016-10-21 05:28:55 UTC
that is an age old debate. that's not solved... both area say they're smarter. the reality is... human being human beings have IQ's.... not political activities or those with political affiliations on my own.... It fairly relies upon on your education, your intelligence, your knowledge, and the presents god gave you.
Vince
2012-06-01 15:01:54 UTC
Intelligent people tend to be Liberal and Atheist. The less intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to be Conservative and Religious. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224132655.htm
Miles from Michigan!!
2012-06-02 07:40:20 UTC
They say obama is a smart man (that has yet to be seen)!!

I don't know what you IQ is so I'll us obama and myself!!

obama IQ = 128

myself IQ = 142







Thank you for coming and remember the donation jar just outside the door!!
2012-05-31 01:33:37 UTC
The conservative.

The likelihood of the con being high is much less.
Charles U. Farley
2012-05-31 04:04:26 UTC
Mine is 160
2012-05-31 01:08:58 UTC
Conservative.
usfirstgov
2012-05-31 01:13:29 UTC
Intelligence has nothing to do with political affiliations.
?
2012-05-31 01:10:21 UTC
To make it fair you would have to include a bible section on the IQ test that was worth half the total score.



Otherwise it would be unfair.
Cameron
2012-05-31 01:09:47 UTC
Studies exist that suggest Liberals would be, but it's not really something you can know empirically. It changes relatively quickly, considering how fast politics evolve.
2012-05-31 01:09:32 UTC
IQ has nothing to do with your views.
2012-05-31 01:12:50 UTC
conservative has the higher IQ.
2012-05-31 01:10:34 UTC
Liberals are smarter than knuckle-dragging consheeple.
ThePresD
2012-05-31 01:09:00 UTC
Depends on age however it tends to liberal...
Sagebrush
2012-05-31 01:22:21 UTC
Liberals are not stupid they are just insane.
2012-05-31 01:28:57 UTC
no correlation.


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