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Should People With Low IQ's Be Allowed To Vote?
HAMISH_MCTAVISH
Posts: 28,592 Forumite
Democracy is the least bad system we've tried so far, but it's far from perfect.
As 50% of the population have an IQ of 100 or less, and such people are essentially incapable of comprehending some of the more complex issues facing society, particularly issues where the evidence supports a counter-intuitive conclusion, wouldn't it be better if passing an IQ test above a certain threshold was a prerequisite for voting?
Or is it the case that we should continue to rely on Politicians being able to dumb down debate so that a majority of voters can understand, even though this leads to the nuances and subtleties of important issues being lost, and encourages partisan conflict and 'rabble rousing' styles of communication?
As 50% of the population have an IQ of 100 or less, and such people are essentially incapable of comprehending some of the more complex issues facing society, particularly issues where the evidence supports a counter-intuitive conclusion, wouldn't it be better if passing an IQ test above a certain threshold was a prerequisite for voting?
Or is it the case that we should continue to rely on Politicians being able to dumb down debate so that a majority of voters can understand, even though this leads to the nuances and subtleties of important issues being lost, and encourages partisan conflict and 'rabble rousing' styles of communication?
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”
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Comments
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Anyone that is surprised that 50% of the population have an IQ of less than 100, should not be allowed to vote.0
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Isn't recent research showing IQ tests are not an accurate measurement of intelligence.
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Isn't recent research showing IQ tests are not an accurate measurement of intelligence.
By definition they are a good measure of IQ. Some people think that so called emotional intelligence -- essentially brown-nosing and politicking ability -- is just as important. However I think we need people to run things who can think and act logically and rationally, and solve problems, rather than those who are good at pretending there is not a problem in the first place, or allaying blame elsewhere if that fails.No-one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions. He had money as well.
The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
Margaret Thatcher0 -
Maybe we should also screen on EQ too so that only people who can empathise with others can vote so that they vote for the 'greater good'? And height so that places with lower ceilings can be polling stations?0
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I'll give you the credit of assuming you are not simply craving attention and that you are still reeling about the chance of others to vote against your wishes.
Yes, EVERYONE should be able to vote, who currently has the privilege of doing so.
Otherwise, where do we end up? Say there was a referendum on planning permission, and to make things easier to build, would you then be questioning whether people under 50 should be allowed to vote?
Democracy is everything Hamish, and we are extremely lucky to have it. We don't get the chance very often, and yes, sometimes it will mean your applecart has the possibility of getting rocked.
You can't engineer democracy. You can simply do without it, but that would be a dark day in my book.0 -
GeorgeHowell wrote: »By definition they are a good measure of IQ. Some people think that so called emotional intelligence -- essentially brown-nosing and politiking ability -- is just as important. However I think we need people to run things who can think and act logically and rationally, and solve problems, rather than those who are good at pretending there is not a problem in the first, or allaying blame elsewhere if that fails.
We cross posted about EQ
But how is being able to rotate a 2-D representation of a 3-D figure in your head or to be able to work out what number comes next in a sequence relevant to being 'allowed' to vote? Plenty of 'intelligent' people have no common sense or a narrow range of 'life experience'. Should they be screened out too?0 -
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »Is rarely either.
I know - but people with a high IQ as judged by some relatively abstract test don't have a monopoly on it!0 -
GeorgeHowell wrote: »By definition they are a good measure of IQ. Some people think that so called emotional intelligence -- essentially brown-nosing and politiking ability -- is just as important. However I think we need people to run things who can think and act logically and rationally, and solve problems, rather than those who are good at pretending there is not a problem in the first, or allaying blame elsewhere if that fails.
Why ???????????????????0 -
What a ridiculous idea.
If you did this, the next step is to conclude that in the top 50% some are not as capable of understanding everything as others, so why not limit voting to the top 25%?
Who would decide which method of measuring intellect would be adopted? Is the median brain any better than the median plus one's brain?
Just because you have a brain the size of a planet does not mean you can make better decisions about practical problems.Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0
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