Election Results Based On Average IQ
 

This following chart is unbiased. The IQ numbers were originally attributed to the book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations", though they do not appear in the current edition. The tests and data were administered via the Raven's APT, and the Test Agency, one of the UK's leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests. This data has been published in the Economist and the St. Petersburg Times, though this does not mean it should be taken as fact.

http://devnull.com/2004election_by_iq.png

Rah! Virginia's the smartest Bush state! :biggrinje

Wow, Mississippi only has an average IQ of 85? Isn't that the cut-off for "mentally challenged"?

On behalf of the state of my birth, Kentucky, I must protest. Our average IQ is easily 95 or 96! ;)

I have seen this before and it seems fishy, so I did a little Googling and found out that it's partly a hoax.

http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQstates.htm

The actual ranking based on SAT & ACT scores:

104 IQ New Hampshire

103 IQ Oregon, Massachusetts, Wisconsin

102 IQ Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington

101 IQ Alaska, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming

100 IQ Arizona, California, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia

99 IQ Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana

98 IQ Florida, Arkansas

97 IQ Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas

96 IQ New Mexico

95 IQ District of Columbia

94 IQ Mississippi, South Carolina

The numbers still correlate but not quite so well... better to income:

http://www.sq.4mg.com/stateIQ-income.htm

Maybe it's me, but I don't remember a space for IQ on my census form.

And the smart ones are all in NoVa, especially Arlington. In Arlington, 29% of the adult population has a bachelors degree (and nothing higher), and 30% have a graduate degree. That's over twice the national average of 15.5% and 8.9% respectively. Arlington leads the DC region. Only Fairfax comes close with 30% and 24% respectively. I think we bring Virginia's average up just a little.

By the way, Arlington is overwhelmingly liberal.

You must have missed on the reading comprehension part of your SAT's.
Here is an article about the study linking IQ and SATs.

Here's the thing.

The average IQ of any given state is the total IQ divided by the number of people. Since its a statistical certainty that a high number of residents of a state have an IQ either higher or lower than the average, and since most states selected one candidate over the other in a proportion within a 60-40 margin I draw a conclusion as follows. The smarter portion of the state (those whose IQ is higher than the average for that state) voted for Bush and the dumber portion (those whose IQ is less than the average) voted for Kerry. So for all states that Bush prevailed in, it is reasonable to conclude that the average IQ of the Kerry supporters was substantially below the average for the state which, in turn, makes the state appear dumb (state ave IQ of less than 95). Pretty simple, really.

Nice try tho.

Digging up pretty charts is only half the battle. :)

I was talking about the original post. No references to SATs there.

Mus' be. I'm in Fairfax/Alexandria and fall into the graduate degree category.

My bad.

Bump - just thought I'd get this one ready for the next election.

On the face of it, seems to me many African Americans would vote for Obama. Wouldn't that throw the numbers off for states with large Afro American populations? Or are they still not allowed to vote down there? :eyebrow:

Thank God for the Electoral College.