**official politics and religion thread**

[Noahfingway]

Good luck then

Hair you will have not.

[Nick Postagulous]

I like religion. I like politics. I like ranch dressing.

[the big lebowski]

Originally Posted by Paul

I hope not, [yoda]moderation nightmare started I have, yes...[/yoda]

oh jesus! here we go with the yoda nerds!

[mkl]

"I would have thought that when you do a comparison, percentage wise (only fair way), you would find that more Mac users would be for the Democrats rather than the Republicans. I am generalizing here, but Mac users would tend to be better educated, and in lines of work that do not typically have Republicans in them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooda
Just look at the votes in the last election. Educated people tend to be more for the Democrats, while those who are not (The South) tend to vote for the Republicans?"

I don't think that politics and computer usage are correlated in any way. I don't think intelligence and politics are correlated in any way. And I don't think lines of work and politics are correlated in any way.

[Noahfingway]

I've seen studies that show more PhD's are politically liberal...I can believe that but I always wonder if that is because it is so hard to resist 10 or so years of leftist influence and not begin to buy in to their theories or that the left is correct.....

Frankly, I know several PhDs and PhD candidates in my extended family and while they are smart...few are extraordinarily smart and they really only have a high degree of knowledge in their specialty. Some have told me they were avoiding getting real jobs. They may not even be the smartest folks in the family....

One cousin married another PhD and she wants to stay home and have kids???? In psychology no less....Yes it's been said before but those kids will surely be f@#ked up.

I used to get really wrapped up in politics but now I'm convinced more than ever that in 1 million years from now when the earth is covered with ice it's not gonna matter.....

[mkl]

Most of the PHDs I interact with seem to be more conservative. However, since I work in the DOD and so do most of them, I figure my sample group is slightly biased.

[DanClass]

Originally Posted by spooky

. maybe i will get it right, maybe i wont. im gonna try though. i dont get why everyone doesnt.

/shrug

one of the key questions

why do people stop trying?

nature v/s nurture?

apathy?

selfishness?

perhaps

weltschmerz (VELT-shmerts) noun

World weariness; pessimism, apathy, or sadness felt at the
difference between physical reality and the ideal state.



how about this as a hypothesis:

if we can combat that which breeds weltschmerz, we will continue to evolve


a big caveat would be trusting in the wisdom of individuals of our kind whether they be full of idiocy or apathy at the given moment


even the bible thumpers have something to contribute?

/shrug

[ooda]

Originally Posted by mkl

"I would have thought that when you do a comparison, percentage wise (only fair way), you would find that more Mac users would be for the Democrats rather than the Republicans. I am generalizing here, but Mac users would tend to be better educated, and in lines of work that do not typically have Republicans in them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooda
Just look at the votes in the last election. Educated people tend to be more for the Democrats, while those who are not (The South) tend to vote for the Republicans?"

I don't think that politics and computer usage are correlated in any way. I don't think intelligence and politics are correlated in any way. And I don't think lines of work and politics are correlated in any way.

If you look at one of my later posts, you'll see that I corrected myself on that point. Even though you wouldn't think it, IQ and voting preferences are correlated. Look at a list of states listed by IQ, and then see who they voted for. Those with the higher average IQ tend to vote for democrats. I know there's a chart somewhere that illustrates this, but I'm about to catch to bus to college, so I'll find it later today.

I still think that if you did a study, you'd find that more Mac users tend to be on the side of the Democrats.

[Josh]

I prefer to call them "Bible Lovers" or "X-men"

As for left or right..... just depends on what hand gets numb from sitting on it first for the "stranger"

as for evolution..... I better get my bat wings soon..... and two livers!

[mkl]

"IQ and voting preferences are correlated"
I would need to see the study, and how it was conducted. I would seriously doubt it to be true. There are just as many stupid conservatives, as stupid liberals. And just as many smart liberals as smart conservatives. This kind of thing is just something else that one section of a populace tells itself to make it feel like it is making the right choice. What both sides of the political spectrum need to realize is that neither one is somehow inherently superior. Not in intelligence, not in moral superiority, not in physical ability. Both sides are a mix of people, who are trying to do anything to prove they are the "correct" side.

*Edited to add*
I went looking for this study, but only found evidence to its contray, so you really are going to have to post it.
The sources I have found (and I haven't done enough research to believe them either)
say: (I know this first one is about the actual IQ of the candidates themselves, just thought I would debunk that too while I was at it)

http://vdare.com/sailer/kerry_iq_lower.htm
In comparing Bush and Kerry's IQ from military intelligence testing:
"The two tests aren't perfectly comparable. But they provide no evidence that Kerry is smarter. If anything, Bush is smarter than Kerry."


http://www.isteve.com/Web_Exclusives...115.6465670139

" Many hundreds of blogs, and even the famous Economist of Britain, have fallen for the IQ by State hoax.."
It then goes through to debunk the articles, including, according to them tracking down the original authors of the study, and having them admit that they made up the numbers, and it was a joke.

So, if there really is a study, and it isn't this one that the authors have admitted was false, I'd still be interested in checking it out.