What do you think about this?

Question

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080522/tuk-working-class-has-lower-iq-6323e80.html

That is the news I woke up to just this morning. Not only is it insulting to every working class citizen out there, but the whole claim stinks of self-praise and closed mind.

What does this man have to go on? Are there any statistics of level of IQ compared to the admittance to prestige universities? Or are there any statistics actually proving that the working class population has a lower general IQ level? Has he considered factors like funds or social pressure?

Seeing as he is a Doctor in psychiatry himself, I suspect that he is not from a working class family himself. Seeing his claim, I would even suggest he dispises the working class people.

I personally think that he should be stripped off his privileges, if he can't remain objective and keeps a subjective one-sided view. What do you think?

Answer 1

I don't know about in the UK, but here in the USA colleges do not take IQ into account in accepting or rejecting college applicants. This question came up on Y!A about a month ago, and I asked my son, who is associate director of admissions for a very prestigious private university in New England, and he said that IQ is never even asked for or included in the information about applicants.



So I guess I'm not sure where this quoted professor got his information about IQs of college students, much less the IQs of young people who are NOT students in a college or university. I do know that there are college/university faculty (not many at all...in fact, very rare!) who are elitists in that they assume higher IQs of people of their own kind, that is, people from their own language group, country, socio- economic level, race, etc. too bad, but there are people like that everywhere, not just in schools.



However, you reveal your own bias and prejudice when you say that, as "a Doctor in psychiatry himself, I suspect that he is not from a working class family." Why could he not be from a poor family, a working class family, whatever...why must he be only from an upper class or rich or privileged family, just because he has attained a certain profession or degree of education?

Answer 2

I think that IQ tests have been proven to not determine one's actual level of intelligence. And I'm not saying that cause I scored low on one (last time I got 147) but because I've heard it many times. The IQ test is a test of the ability to grasp new concepts. It is not one's actual intelligence.



And yes that is demeaning. Don't pay attention to it, it will only make you feel dumb. Which, you are extremely intelligent, no need to get worked up about such things.



If that made your day a bit gloomy, maybe this will help:



http://jokes.comedycentral.com/random_joke.aspx?joke_id=6722



just keep tellin' it to hit you again ;-)



edit: hell if yours is 168 I wouldn't worry lol.



Yes, the underdog. but I like to stick up for the undercat. The undercat is so under, no one ever even mentions it! :P

Answer 3

Working class people usually go to State schools which are there to destroy individualism and force people to be reliant on the State. State schools claim to educate but in truth they indoctrinate and stunt the growth of logic and reason at an early age. The result of this is 2 million people have emigrated since 1997. Socialism destroys potential. The IQ measure is not relevant to this article. The man is a plank. My wife has an IQ of 148 and left school at 15 with no qualifications. Her mother was a domestic servant and her father a cow herdsman. As working class as you find. It is not IQ which matters, it is cultural input. The tragedy is that if working class people were able to send their sons and daughters to private schools (or if the British State schools were not controlled by cultural Marxists) many of them would rise to positions in life commeasurate with their abilities and not be restricted by having negligible educations.

Answer 4

Hey Aya,



I can tell you this: I have worked with a lot, a lot of psychiatrists, and most of them are just plain nuts. They go into psychiatry because they are too nuts to pursue more presitigious areas of medicine. All he is doing here is using his title to assert a claim that will make him feel superior to overcome his own feelings of inadequacy.

I have also administered many IQ tests and know that there are a lot of shortcomings in the tests themselves - most are somewhat biased towards certain sociocultural groups. Also, as more and more is being learned about IQ, it is not a single number which addresses all areas of intelligence. (e.g. emotional & social intelligence). I'm sure you've met some really "smart" people who were total bozos when it came to interpersonal interactions.

This guy makes me laugh.

Answer 5

Hi!



Well, you've already asked all of the questions that I would have asked. I wonder what he's like with his patients? I'm going to see if there's anything else that I can find on him and then I'll be back with more.





EDIT: It's going to take a while to read through all this, but here's his website for a start:



http://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/



Am going to see if I find the statistical evidence for this:)



EDIT: Well, his article on ceremonial time seems quite interesting from what I've read so far, but it's ridiculously late here and I need to sleep, so will do more in the morning.



good night:)

Answer 6

IQ and education are not related, Psychology is a pseudo-science, anyone who knows the human mind knows this, there are more than exceptions to psychology's rules.



He has his head up his own donkey. Money has bought his way through life, he probably never paid his university fees, the article proves his ignorance.

The people he has perscribed drugs for need a second opinion quickly.

Answer 7

it seems that the person who wrote the article has a very narrow one sided vieew of the world and what happens in it