Study claims good-looking men and women have higher IQs

[The Straight Story]

It appears that those already physically blessed attract partners who are not just good looking but brainy too, according to research by the London School of Economics.

The children of these couples will tend to inherit both qualities, building a genetic link over successive generations between them.

LSE researcher Satoshi Kanazawa told the Sunday Times: ''Physical attractiveness is significantly positively associated with general intelligence, both with and without controls for social class, body size and health.
Clever and handsome:: Physicist Brian Cox

Clever and handsome: Physicist Brian Cox

'The association between attractiveness and general intelligence is also stronger among men than among women.'

In other research on social standing, he found that middle-class girls tended to have higher IQs than their working- class counterparts.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1347651/Attractive-people-higher-IQs-Beauty-brains-DO-together.html#ixzz1BKETiEcA

[Taverner]

1. Teachers give them a little more confidence, so they learn more

[AngryAmish]

50. IQ is not material learned

[Taverner]

51. Have you ever seen an IQ test?

What they measure is learning

If you haven't studied algebra, you don't do so well on any of the logic questions

[AngryAmish]

53. An IQ test does not ask you to list the naval battles of the War of 1812

Yes you have to do rudimentary math and be able to read the dang thing, but learning is not the measurement. IQ is just the ability to memorize, categorize and manipulate information. There are people who have never been to school with very high IQs (although some subjects such as math help with abstract reasoning and that shows up on the margins of IQ) and vice versa.

You take a person with a 90 IQ and they might be able learn a great list of facts. You can't make great improvements in IQ since it is based on genetics and the expression of said genetics.

[varkam]

56. Actually...

Many tests use general knowledge questions as a subset of an IQ score.

[Taverner]

59. This is what I mean

[sharp_stick]

2. Damned straight we do

and we're one hell of a lot more humble about it than those of you beaten with the ugly stick.

;-) :evilgrin: :toast:

[randr]

3. What bullshit

Think of portraits of the geniouses you can. Stephen Hawking?, Einstein?, etc.

[LisaL]

13. I don't buy it either.

If this was correct you'd expect geniuses to be also gorgeous and really, is that the case?

[slackmaster]

26. There have been a few...

[leftstreet]

4. What bullshit. Standards of 'beauty' vary throughout history and cultures

Why do people crank out this crap? (Not you, the authors)

[Cerridwen]

5. If you don't age well does that mean your IQ drops? n/t

[seabeyond]

9. lol.... funny. ya. nt

[Zephie]

6. Heh, great, one more reason for people to have low self esteem

Not pretty? Hey, that means you're not smart either. Hurry up and go die in your gutter so us pretty, wealthy, intelligent people can get on with our lives without you.

[Hannah Bell]

25. that's the intent of such "research"

[FLPanhandle]

7. Well, it's true for me.

And my kids are even smarter and better looking. Look out future generations!

[pnwmom]

8. If IQ was determined in an individual test, than it might be influenced

by the subjective reaction of the test-giver to the taker.

On the other hand, other research has shown that facial symmetry is strongly related to attractiveness. Facial symmetry is also related to general health -- which could have an effect on intelligence. It might not be too much of a stretch to think that the healthiest children - those who eat well and aren't debilitated by frequent illness -- might grow up to have higher I.Q.'s.

[bluedigger]

10. So I'm even dumber than I thought?

That's just great.

[Lucian]

11. No offense, but the source of that article is from the Daily Mail.

[dipsydoodle]

15. I just noticed that too.

Private Eye, the satirical magazine over here running since the sixties, has always referred to the Daily Mail as the Daily Lie.

Notwithstanding that whilst Alfred E. Newman may not have film star looks I don't believe him to be stupid.

[NoGOPZone]

12. Like I need a study to tell me that Cheney is stupid AND ugly nt

[Donnachaidh]

14. Really? Explain Einstein, or for that matter, Stephen Hawking.

who funded this tripe?

[Zephie]

Call me crazy but I always found Einstein handsome

[Liquorice]

44. Einstein was very attractive. nt

[old mark]

27. Before Hawking's illness, he was handsome and athletic. Einsttein as a young man

was quite a sharpie, too...

Now if he had said goodlooking , smart and RICH...


mark
(Who is both)

[avaistheone1]

16. Proof positive:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x215174



Take me to your leader.

[avaistheone1]

20. .

[Javaman]

17. sounds like the onion, but sadly, it is not. nt

[pintobean]

18. Explain Hollywood.

[marew]

28. Perfect response! n/t

[Forrest Greene]

19. Any Studies Available

...on their arrogance, condescension, cruelty, & senses of entitlement?

[avaistheone1]

21. Without a doubt it is so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww


She's on to something.

[chowder66]

22. I believe it....why?

Because that means that all people who are intelligent and may be considered unattractive are actually attractive.


So Mr. Hawking should be the next Sexiest Man Alive!! Take that LSE Researchers!

[slackmaster]

23. If that is true, then why are people of average intelligence the most likely to reproduce?

[Fumesucker]

33. Because they are the most likely to connect emotionally with someone of the opposite sex..

The further you are from the middle of the bell curve in intelligence the harder it is to find someone who is compatible with you.

[Hannah Bell]

24. bullshit.

[avaistheone1]

29. More study findings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FEm5VwrgQY&feature=related



Minds like this are just not celebrated enough.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Got to a Mensa meeting and get back to me on that one.

That theory would get a real test.

[SharonAnn]

38. Well, many of us Mensa members don't go to meetings. So you wouldn't see us there.

Maybe we're hanging out with the "beautiful people".

[former9thward]

39. Mensa is merely a subset of intelligent people.

And a poor one at that. People who feel they need to belong to an exclusionary club in order to identify themselves as intelligent definitely lack something.

[jdp349]

43. self selecting subset - invalid

[jdp349]

48. woops

[HughBeaumont]

47. They ain't exactly olfactorally pleasing either.

Such masters at Fermat's last theorem, quantum mechanics, Sanskrit and binary, yet they can't bathe.

[fatbuckel]

31. See? Told ya!

[Johonny]

32. If higher IQ's had meaning that might be interesting

[Bonhomme Richard]

34. What a stud that Einstein guy was.

And That Woman Not to be Mentioned...............what a tower of braininess she is.

[iamtechus]

35. How to judge articles like this:

I believe that one should judge research like this by relating it their own experience.

Looking back at my school days, I seem to recall that it was seldom the "good looking" ones who did the best in difficult subjects. In my technical occupation it was seldom the attractive ones who were the best problem solvers.

How well people score on tests (like the IQ) can depend on a lot of factors. In my humble, unprofessional opinion it can be affected by poverty, self-confidence, anxiety level and many other things.

[Spike89]

36. Probably a correlation between health and intelligence

but why the outrage? It is only a correlation.

BTW - Stephen Hawking is your example? FFS, the man has a degenerative disease! I guess I could understand the Einstein (is ugly) thing, even though he was more unkempt and considered quite rakish as a young man. But disputing statistics with not only a couple examples is ignorant, but using one as totally innappropriate as Hawking is disgusting.

[JI7]

37. can they give specific examples ?

[avaistheone1]

40. Certainly

The intellectual giants of our time.

[Liquorice]

46. I bet you all three of those women have IQ's well over 100. nt

[avaistheone1]

52. True

if you add each ones together.

[mmonk]

41. I smell dung.

[Liquorice]

42. I've always thought that was generally true. nt

[WinkyDink]

45. I agree! Why, just look at THESE hunks!

[jdp349]

49. seems reasonable

If we assume the methodology is valid there are any number of casual relationships that might be proposed many of which would not be mutually exclusive.

To address subjective standards of beauty: It would be reasonable to propose that intelligent people are more adept at modifying their appearance to conform with current standards of beauty.

As another poster mentioned, perhaps people who are more attractive develop higher self confidence and self esteem.

There are some cross cultural standards of beauty that are general indicative of good health and lack of chromosome damage which are also positively correlated with intelligence.

To be honest I'd be more surprised if there was no correlation between the two variables at all.

[Bunny]

54. Well, my guy is handsome and smart, so therefore this study is

100% correct. :thumbsup:

[apocalypsehow]

55. The studies seem to have yielded valid data, so there can be little arguing with the conclusions.

I suspect that most of the opposition to those valid findings will not be grounded in actual data/evidence to the contrary, but rather an instinctive, baseless resentment of the facts as they appear to be. And anecdotes: lots and lots of anecdotes and outliers.

Pesky things, those facts.

[GreenPartyVoter]

57. All I know is my kids are both bright and adorable. :^)

[Warren DeMontague]

58. Damn Straight. nt