Thread: Pew Poll Re Political Affiliation of Scientists

http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1549

Interesting poll by Pew showing large majority of scientists consider themselves to be liberal.

I guess we could have a field day discussing what this means...

or not................

meaningless. I would be willing to bet if you took a poll of people with H.S Diplomas and College Grads and those with Grad Degrees you'd find the higher the education the more liberal the person, in general. Also with college grads the field they majored in will dictate the degree of being liberal or not. Actually many science majors are more conservative than say Social Science majors.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

meaningless. I would be willing to bet if you took a poll of people with H.S Diplomas and College Grads and those with Grad Degrees you'd find the higher the education the more liberal the person, in general. Also with college grads the field they majored in will dictate the degree of being liberal or not. Actually many science majors are more conservative than say Social Science majors.

I agree. Besides, let's not confuse degrees with intelligence. I don't know about you, but some of the dumbest people I've ever met have had all manner of degrees and letters after their name. At the very least, a degree simply means you're persistent.

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

I agree. Besides, let's not confuse degrees with intelligence. I don't know about you, but some of the dumbest people I've ever met have had all manner of degrees and letters after their name. At the very least, a degree simply means you're persistent.

Yes and Freeman Dyson never got a PhD either
But you can't compare the two opposite tails of the distributions as if they're the same....
I'd say on average degrees and intelligence are very strongly correlated. But then who wants to be labeled 'average', or even worse 'below average'

Originally Posted by gugi

But then who wants to be labeled 'average'

I know who!!!!

Every single politician who's after the vote of the 'average Joe'

Originally Posted by gugi

Yes and Freeman Dyson never got a PhD either
But you can't compare the two opposite tails of the distributions as if they're the same....
I'd say on average degrees and intelligence are very strongly correlated. But then who wants to be labeled 'average', or even worse 'below average'

They may be strongly correlated, but I think it's a stretch to say that because most people with degrees are more intelligent, and also liberal, then intelligent people are liberal or it is intelligent to be liberal. It's a pretty blanket assumption to make it seem that liberals are intelligent and conservatives are unintelligent. Once again, both sides have their share of the not so bright.

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

At the very least, a degree simply means you're persistent.

It depends greatly on which university awarded the degree. Or if any university did, given the number of people in the UK who routinely falsify their CV.

a degree from a university in the Philippines can be had for less than $50

next time I'm there I'm going to get one that says I'm a gyno

just to hang on the wall

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

meaningless. I would be willing to bet if you took a poll of people with H.S Diplomas and College Grads and those with Grad Degrees you'd find the higher the education the more liberal the person, in general. Also with college grads the field they majored in will dictate the degree of being liberal or not. Actually many science majors are more conservative than say Social Science majors.

Why is this meaningless? It's rather telling, in my book.

You see, I think you are right--there is a general positive correlation between level of education and political liberality; and of course, for the uneducated that is a particularly damning fact. "Book Smarts is for sissies!", and "colleges breed liberals" and all that nonsense (the assumption that education makes people LESS capable of making up their own minds about their political affiliation is rather weak, but there you go) are pretty common creeds coming from both the popular conservative base and the (rather ironically) highly educated conservative "elite."

This, in turn, tells me that ignorance is valued by conservatives, as is a lack of critical thinking skills. Which of course makes for an easily manipulated voting public...