Liberalism, atheism linked to higher IQ

@boxerdc Said

I was really excited about this, until I read the last line..

liberals and atheists are smarter

Pity that we don't breed as much.

@ssnot_me Said

but i am not liberal

@CNN Said
The reasoning is that sexual exclusivity in men, liberalism and atheism all go against what would be expected given humans' evolutionary past. In other words, none of these traits would have benefited our early human ancestors, but higher intelligence may be associated with them.

"The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward," said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. "It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people -- people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower -- are likely to be the ones to do that."

@jonnythan Said

It's not a cause-effect relationship. It's a tendency.

Assuming you have a high IQ, and are not liberal or atheist, you may simply be an outlier.

The vast majority of people have no idea what their IQ is, though. Most assume it is significantly higher than it is, it seems.

@ssnot_me Said

i follow the story. and there are exceptions to every rule. and to be honest, i would guess i am more "street smart" than "book smart". i am sure to some folks i am neither.

@buffalobill90 Said

Liberals, atheists and sexually exclusive males - moving the species forward since 10,000BC.

@doubtingthomas Said

Its ok Ssnot there is no real way to measure intelligence anyway. Lots of ways to measure the ablity to memorize things, but not intelligence. The two are very very different.