ARE LIBERALS SMARTER THAN CONSERVATIVES?

[hughee99]

47. I know many people (some scientists) who aren't politically engaged but would describe

themselves as Democrats. At one point in their life, politics was something they paid attention to but as they got older, they paid less and less attention as other things pulled their attention away. They still identify with the party, and they can name their elected officials, but you'd get a blank look (a few will try to bullshit like they've been paying attention) when discussing ISIS, the TPP, anything the Fed has done in about 5 years, or the European financial crisis.

I know republicans like that as well, but since you'd expect even the "politically engaged" ones to be ill-informed (or misinformed) about politics, it didn't seem to be a good example.

My point is, a poll of people in one particular industry isn't the great indicator you might think. Do I think Dems are smarter? Of course I do, but I think you'd have a hard time convincing people of it with this argument as people would get hung up (as I did) on the clearly flawed methodology. Perhaps it's just the way it's worded, though, that's bothering me. I'm not arguing that scientists aren't smart, just that smart people aren't all scientists and it's a flaw in the argument to equate the two.