Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice

[chervilant]

40. hmm...

Let's set aside for the moment the likelihood (hinted at by the researchers and the author of the referenced article) that the relationship between 'low IQ' and prejudice is spurious. First, let's look at "intelligence" as 'IQ,' shall we?

We humans are innately curious. We are creative creatures. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that our drive to create is as important to our existence as food, water, and shelter. An essential component of our creative drive is the commensurate need to be recognized for our contributions. ALL of us have the capacity to create (save for a very few whose mental processes are hampered by disease or injury). ALL of us thrive on recognition (e.g., we don’t need to be told we’re stupid or slow).

If we look at contemporary research on timed IQ tests, we find that most of the participating research subjects score 'near genius' if the timed element of the test is removed. I contend that this research substantiates the fact that all human beings possess fully functioning, fully capable brains (again, save for a very few whose brains have been damaged or are hampered by disease). According to contemporary research, including research conducted to assess current educational methodologies, we humans all learn in different ways, and at different paces.

Now, consider this: our species has evolved a system of education that conflates hierarchy with intellect. The faster you can solve a complex problem, the 'smarter' you are perceived to be. If you are a child of privilege, your IQ may only be limited by your own intellectual laziness (Dubyah comes readily to mind...). However, if you are a child living in poverty, solving complex academic problems is likely subsumed by the daily rigors of simply surviving. If your primary language is not English, solving complex academic problems may be impossible until you learn to speak a new language. In all these instances, your IQ could measure off the charts, but who would know?

Worse yet, our vaunted system of public education is structured to convince two-thirds to three-quarters of us that we have average or below average intellects. Can you say "self-fulfilling prophecy"? Might you be one of those unfortunates who grew up believing that an average intellect was your unenviable albatross? Must we blame those among us who bought into this stultifying, hierarchical definition of IQ?

In The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby notes that

America is now ill with a powerful mutant strain of intertwined ignorance, anti-rationalism, and anti-intellectualism...the virulence of the current outbreak is inseparable from an unmindfulness that is, paradoxically, both aggressive and passive. This condition is aggressively promoted by everyone, from politicians to media executives, whose livelihood depends on a public that derives its opinions from sound bites and blogs, and it is passively accepted by a public in thrall to the serpent promising effortless enjoyment from the fruit of the tree of infotainment.

If our species is to evolve beyond this "Age of American Unreason," we must not buy into the specious argument that 'conservative' individuals are likely to possess 'low IQs' and/or have the tendency to be prejudiced, while ‘liberal’ individuals are likely to be ‘intellectual snobs.’ We must refuse to snarf these divisive red herrings. We must change the dialogue.