Whovian (1,811 posts)
Intelligence Institute Study shows Fox News viewers have an IQ that is 20 points lower than the U.S.
(National Average)
http://news.yahoo.com/intelligence-institute-study-shows-fox-news-viewers-iq-034622242.html
Study shows that the Americans who watch Fox News have an average IQ of 80, whereas the national average is 100. Researchers were not "shocked" by findings.
Birmingham, Alabama (PRWEB) December 04, 2012
The results of a 4 year study show that Americans who obtain their news from Fox News channel have an average IQ of 80, which represents a 20 point deficit when compared to the U.S. national average of 100. IQ, or intelligence quotient, is the international standard of assessing intelligence.
Researchers at The Intelligence Institute, a conservative non-profit group, tested 5,000 people using a series of tests that measure everything from cognitive aptitude to common sense and found that people who identified themselves as Fox News viewers and 'conservative' had, on average, significantly lower intelligent quotients. Fox Viewers represented 2,650 members of the test group.
One test involved showing subjects a series of images and measuring their vitals, namely pulse rate and blood pressure. The self-identified conservatives' vitals increased over 35% when shown complex or shocking images. The image that caused the most stress was a poorly edited picture of President Obama standing next to a "ghostly" image of a child holding a tarantula.
Test subjects who received their news from other outlets or reported they do not watch the news scored an average IQ of 104, compared to 80 for Fox News viewers.
Lead researcher, P. Nichols, explains, "Less intelligent animals rely on instinct when confronted by something which they do not understand. This is an ancient survival reaction all animals, including humans, exhibit. It's a very simple phenomenon, really; think about a dog being afraid of a vacuum cleaner. He doesn't know what a vacuum is or if it may harm him, so he becomes agitated and barks at it. Less intelligent humans do the same thing. Concepts that are too complex for them to understand, may frighten or anger them."
He continues, "Fox News' content is presented at an elementary school level and plays directly into the fears of the less educated and less intelligent."
More at link.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021948044 Earth_First (9,956 posts)
1. Does this include their grasp of the English language or is this above and beyond?
If we are so stupid then why is it we don't need the government to hold our hands through life? Why is it you never see us holding out our hands demanding them to be filled by the taxpayer? Why is it we are not fooled by 0bama and all his lies about how wonderful his policies are?
The thing that I noticed first was they claim the researchers were not shocked at the findings, I may be a conservative moron but that right there tells me they already had their minds made up of the results. I'd like to see the questions and see the pictures that they showed people to see how horrified they were by each.
I also love this line, Concepts that are too complex for them to understand, may frighten or anger them." The problem is I understand the concepts of liberalism and socialism way too well, that is why I oppose them, it's not because I am a moron that can't understand how wonderful socialism is.

I also am curious as to what they define as common sense, considering society as a whole has no common sense these days, I can't help but wonder if what they consider common sense is the garbage that society views as common sense. So naturally a conservative will fail miserably in a test that uses what is considered common sense today. Just because they have deemed what they believe as common sense, does not make it so.