MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
“Study on prejudice, low IQ just plain dumb”, Ellis Henican Column, Newsday, January 29, 2012
Who’s prejudiced and who’s dumb?
According to a study in the journal “Psychological Science”, children with lower intelligence are more likely to grow into racially prejudiced adults.
So are those with conservative upbringings. “Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer structure and order,” lead author Gordon Hodson writes in a report that’s generating howls of uproar this weekend. “Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice.”
Is he saying conservative people are bigoted and stupid?
Sure sounds that way. The popular LiveScience blog put this headline on Dr. Hodson’s research: “Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice.”
Take that, George Will!
It’s one thing to say that people from socially conservative backgrounds are more likely to hold socially conservative views. That’s not science. That’s truism.
It’s quite another, in such sweeping terms, to call conservatives dumb. What about William Buckley? What about Friedrich Hayek? Those guys may be dead now. Their ideas might sometimes be called disagreeable. But no one ever said they were dumb.
Life experience teaches that smart people and dumb people show up on all sides of the political spectrum. It’s just that our pointed political conversation refuses to acknowledge that.
To hear the Republican presidential debates in Florida and the State of the Union address in Washington was to hear two sides talking at each other, with hardly any mutual respect. There’s a talk-show host who’s made quite a good living calling liberalism a mental illness. There are people on the left who are certain no one with half a brain is on the right.
Tell me that’s not another kind of prejudice.
SMARTEN UP
1. Crazy liberals
2. Closed-minded conservatives
3. Mushy moderates
4. Wild-eyed radicals
5. Apathetic jerks
THE NEWS IN SONG:
A little more each day…
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
“Erase Racism”
ASKED AND UNANSWERED:
How different would the Florida primary be if so many Long Islanders hadn’t plopped down there? Would Newt really be romping?…Want a seal in the state Assembly? We’re probably getting another one f
or Elmont and Valley Stream…Should we care that LIRR is now the number 2 commuter railroad in America? Does our tumble from the top just mean Metro-North has more crowded trains?… Are Suffolk County workers enjoying their new mandatory pay-deferent program? Is the penny-pinching spreading to elected officials, whose participation is voluntary? If they all sign up, it’ll save an extra $2 million…You see that bug-eyed guy alleging stealing from a Wading River farm stand? Are video
security cameras turning minor crimes into major news events?…Are Susan Pemberton and Cynthia Sibert about to mount the victims-were-so-dumb-they-deserved-it defense? The Nassau County women are accused of stealing the IDs of unsuspecting people who answer Craig’s List ads…Does it really take legislation to make the night dark? It may in East Hampton, where light-loving businesses have just been given another three months to comply with the town’s 2006 “dark skies” law…Now that Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Roman Catholic Church has been promoted by the Pope to “basilica,” will Monsignor Jeffrey Madley get a promotion too? Wait, he’s already a monsignor. That’s high already.
LONG ISLANDER OF THE WEEK:
ZACHARY BORST
No one can say for sure whether Zachary Borst is the next Steven Spielberg or even the next Donny Deutsch. But the 26-year-old aspiring filmmaker from Merrick sure is opening big. His prize-winning Chevrolet commercial will be seen by 170 million people glued to the Super Bowl. I dare you to say his work doesn’t hold up against the best in the business of any age at any price. His sleight-of-hand Camaro concept is decidedly youth-focused. And isn’t that the demographic all those grown-up creative types are desperate to reach these days? Touchdown, Zach!
E-mail ellis@henican.com
Follow him at twitter.com/henican
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