Plugging the variables WORDSUM (number equals how many of ten vocabulary questions were correctly answered, and a proxy for IQ) and CLASSICL (like or dislike classical music) into the
General Social Survey gives the following table. The results show clearly that as the U.S. becomes more moronic, classical music will decline even more in popularity than it already has. (See also
this for a ranking of musical genres according to the IQs of their fans.) Thanks to reader Zanzibar for the tip.
In trying to discover the correspondence between Wordsum and IQ, I googled it and was amused to discover that the first page of results was almost entirely to sites like
Audacious E,
Half Sigma, and
The Inductivist. For an area of such fundamental consequence to society as the IQ of its members, it's not only amusing but sad that only a few hardcore HBD bloggers discuss it. But then, as a commenter at Steve's said the other day, pattern recognition is racist.
| |
| Frequency Distribution | Cells contain:
-Column percent
-Weighted N | CLASSICL | 1
LIKE VERY MUCH | 2
LIKE IT | 3
MIXED FEELINGS | 4
DISLIKE IT | 5
DISLIKE VERY MUCH | ROW
TOTAL | | WORDSUM | 0 | .0
0 | .5
2 | .2
1 | .0
0 | .6
1 | .3
3 | | 1 | 1.6
3 | 1.9
6 | 3.1
8 | 2.9
5 | 2.5
2 | 2.4
23 | | 2 | 2.9
5 | 2.6
8 | 2.4
6 | 4.2
7 | 6.9
6 | 3.2
32 | | 3 | 4.1
7 | 4.0
12 | 3.9
10 | 7.7
13 | 10.1
8 | 5.1
50 | | 4 | 5.1
8 | 8.5
26 | 8.8
23 | 17.7
29 | 19.5
16 | 10.5
103 | | 5 | 7.9
13 | 10.2
31 | 17.3
45 | 20.3
33 | 17.6
15 | 14.0
137 | | 6 | 18.7
31 | 25.3
77 | 21.2
55 | 23.8
39 | 22.0
18 | 22.6
221 | | 7 | 17.8
30 | 16.4
50 | 21.4
55 | 12.2
20 | 10.1
8 | 16.7
164 | | 8 | 13.7
23 | 13.7
42 | 11.4
30 | 8.4
14 | 3.1
3 | 11.3
110 | | 9 | 17.1
29 | 11.8
36 | 6.9
18 | 2.9
5 | 3.8
3 | 9.2
90 | | 10 | 11.1
18 | 5.2
16 | 3.3
8 | .0
0 | 3.8
3 | 4.7
46 | | COL TOTAL | 100.0
166 | 100.0
305 | 100.0
259 | 100.0
164 | 100.0
84 | 100.0
979 | |
| Color coding: | <-2.0 | <-1.0 | <0.0 | >0.0 | >1.0 | >2.0 | Z | | N in each cell: | Smaller than expected | Larger than expected | |
 |
|
Still, Dennis, it's mildly encouraging that among the sample more like classical very much than dislike it very much, and the largest total is in the "like it" column.
ReplyDeleteEven in the 5 or fewer category, a surprising number say they like it very much or like it. Possibly the results are skewed because some respondents feel they ought to like classical and are embarrassed to admit they don't, but even that is a good sign.
Some kind of intelligence is needed to appreciate a kind of music that makes demands on the attention and often represents the aesthetics of eras far removed in time from ours. But verbal IQ and what it takes to enjoy classical music are correlated only to a degree.
At GNXP they're pondering why so few pundits make use of the GSS, WVS or similar data sources.
ReplyDeleteRick: In the 5 and under column it's probably all Pachelbels' Canon or Vivaldi.
ReplyDeleteTGGP: I've had a hard time taking Razib seriously since I heard his voice. Totally unfair, I know.
I might be wrong and I don't feel like Google right now but I'm fairly certain Vivaldi was the son of a baker who also played.
ReplyDeleteDoes that make him solidly middle class?
Don't know about his father, but he himself was a priest. Maybe that makes him solidly middle class.
ReplyDelete...was amused to discover that the first page of results was almost entirely to sites like Audacious E, Half Sigma, and The Inductivist. For an area of such fundamental consequence to society as the IQ of its members, it's not only amusing but sad that only a few hardcore HBD bloggers discuss it.
ReplyDeleteSad, you said? It is the definite demonstration of the ideological terror that paralyzes institutional thinkers. And you should have observed that the bloggers who do write on these "subversive" issues, including those you dont mention like La Griffe, all write under assumed names, pseudonyms, and they have very good reasons to do so. All the while antisemites like Kevin MacDonald have no need to hide and write under their true identities.
His father was a barber.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you take gay people seriously, Denith?
ReplyDeleteJ: There are a few people who write about things like IQ and race under their real names, like Linda Gottfredson or Phillipe Rushton. Meanwhile, Kevin MacDonald is about the only well-known anti-semite that I can think of, and he's in constant danger of losing his job.
ReplyDelete"Andrew Sullivan": I don't often read Gene Expression, but I've read elsewhere that Razib Khan is totally opposed to any expression of white ethnic solidarity among Americans, so I suppose I was looking for any excuse to dismiss him. That he's gay doesn't mean anything he's writes is incorrect of course, it just came as a shock to see what this internet character looked and acted like in person.
For those with questions regarding the reliability of Wordsum as a proxy for intelligence, at the regional level at least, it correlates strongly with other good-faith IQ estimates.
ReplyDelete