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Friday Fun: You?re Smarter than the Average Bear

By admin

As Yogi says, Boo Boo, if you can smell a picnic basket . . .

20 Scientifically-Proven Signs You’re Smarter Than Average

“We pulled research from Fox News, CBS, Psychology Today, The Times and more to bring you 20 scientifically-proven signs you’re smart. Keep in mind, correlation does not always equal causation!

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/20-scientifically-proven-signs-youre-smarter-than-average-2010-12?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Falleyinsider%2Fsilicon_alley_insider+%28Silicon+Alley+Insider%29#ixzz17qo81VcC”

1. “According to Psychology Today, people who use more drugs are more intelligent. “Intelligent people don’t always do the right thing,” they write, “only the evolutionarily novel thing.”

2. “According to evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science, people who have liberal political views have higher IQs.”

3. “Those who resist the urge and are committed to one sexual partner, then, are actually smarter. They’re thinking and acting out against historical human ways, which is a sign of intelligence.”

4. “Challenging an ancient mindset is a sign of intelligence. Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa found atheism is linked to higher IQs.”

5. “The New York Times writes, “The new findings, from a landmark study published [June 2007], showed that eldest children had a slight but significant edge in I.Q. ? an average of three points over the closest sibling.”

6. “According to Reuters, “Researchers found that among 121 Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 7, those whose mothers had suffered morning sickness scored higher, on average, on certain tests of IQ, memory and language skills.”"

7. “Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that female and male adolescents with an IQ score below 70 or above 110 are more likely to be virgins.”

8. “Numerous studies on identical twins (who have the same genes) versus fraternal twins (who share, on average, half their genes) prove that intelligence is inherited.”

9. “CBS writes, “The Mount Sinai Center for Children’s Health and the Environment combined a number of previous studies to determine hundreds of thousands of babies are born every year with lower IQ associated with mercury exposure. “Using work examining the effects of lead exposure on IQ, researchers determined that even a 1.6 point drop in IQ could cost a person $31,800 in lifetime earnings because of missed educational opportunities or jobs…Lower IQ levels linked to mercury exposure in the womb costs the United States $8.7 billion a year in lost earnings potential.”"

10. “DailyMail reports, “Young people who smoke regularly are likely to have markedly lower intelligence levels than those who do not smoke, and, according to the study of 20,000 young adults, the heavier the smoker, the lower the IQ.”

11. “According to ScienceDaily.com, “In two studies of breast-fed infants involving more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence an average of nearly 7 IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2.”"

12. “Psychcentral.com reports, “There is growing evidence that musicians have structurally and functionally different brains compared with non-musicians. In addition to boosting your IQ, musical training also helps your mood, memory, and ability to learn languages.”

13. “According to The Times Online, using electronics too much, like texting non-stop, can put you in a state of “infomania,” which can harm your IQ. “This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as ?infomania?.”

14. “Dr. Oz tells Oprah, “Left-handed people can deal with more incoming information that doesn’t come in an organized way.” Dr. Oz says this is because of the way the brain develops when a baby is in its mother’s womb. “The left brain normally controls your right side, which is really powerful,” he says. “[In left-handed people], it allows the other side, the right brain, to become an equal partner.”

15. “Yahoo News reports, “Sleep researchers tend to divide people into two groups, explains zoologist Robert Alison in the Winnipeg Free Press, based on whether they exhibit ‘morningness’ or ‘eveningness.’ A recent study claims that eveningness is an evolutionary advancement that marks out ‘more intelligent individuals,’ while those with lower IQs tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime.”"

16. “Being tall has been a heavily debated trait of smarter individuals. There are studies that back up this speculation.
A Princeton study found, “?As early as age 3 ? before schooling has had a chance to play a role ?and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests.? This suggests that the intelligence is nature, not nurture, although they couldn’t explain the tall gene phenomenon.”

16. “”Studies have shown that light-eyed people are more intelligent than dark. Don’t worry if you have brown eyes, you have your own set of strengths. Fox News reports, “Light-eyed individuals and even light-eyed animals perform better at behaviors requiring delay, self-pacing, or non-reactors, while dark-eyed individuals and animals perform better at behaviors requiring speed, sensitivity or reactivity, according to a paper authored by University of Louisville professor emeritus Joanne Rowe.”"

17. “Michael McDanielle of Virginia Commonwealth University conducted research on this topic. Here are his findings: “The relationship between brain volume and intelligence has been a topic of a scientific debate since at least the 1830s. To address the debate, a meta-analysis of the relationship between in vivo brain volume and intelligence was conducted. Based on 37 samples across 1530 people, the population correlation was estimated at 0.33. The correlation is higher for females than males. It is also higher for adults than children. For all age and sex groups, it is clear that brain volume is positively correlated with intelligence.”

19. “”Reuters reports, “An online survey of 895 Web users and experts found more than three-quarters believe the Internet will make people smarter in the next 10 years, according to results released on Friday. “But 21 percent said the Internet would have the opposite effect and could even lower the IQs of some who use it a lot.” Time will tell, but most experts believe the internet benefits intelligence.”

20. “The Telegraph reports one study’s findings based on a series of memory tests: “The new five-year study of more than 2,200 adults claims to have found a link between obesity and the decline in a person’s cognitive function. The research, conducted by French scientists, involved men and women aged between 32 and 62 taking four mental ability tests that were then repeated five years later. “The researchers found that people with a Body Mass Index ? a measure of body fat ? of 20 or less could recall 56 per cent of words in a vocabulary test, while those who were obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher, could remember only 44 per cent. “The fatter subjects also showed a higher rate of cognitive decline when they were retested five years later: their recall dropped to 37.5 per cent, whereas those with a healthy weight retained their level of recall.”

And an added bonus to test yourself (no research necessary): If you quote any of these theories over your Christmas turkey you’re not that smart!

I won’t be telling my family (younger siblings included) and friends that research supports my genius! They will only point out that I can’t play a note of music, I am right handed and I’m not skinny.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on December 19, 2010 (boomark / email).