Trump's 40% explained.

[Binkie The Clown]

Like it or not, it's a fact, by definition, that 50% of the population has below average intelligence.

Back in the old days before PC, the folks in the lower 35% or so used to be labeled as being "dull normal" to "profoundly retarded". We don't like those labels anymore, and for good reason. But however such people are or are not "labeled", the fact remains that around 35% of the population is intellectually disadvantaged.

That has always been true, and will continue to be true. So we will always have around 35% of the people voting against their best interests because they are just inherently incapable of understanding the complexities of public policy. That 35% is built into the system, and there nothing we can do about except to recognize that it is an inevitable consequence of universal suffrage, a principle that, I hope, we all support and defend.

(An interesting related post from the distant past: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8654728)

[RazBerryBeret]

1. that's the only way

to explain Bush's second term as well.....

[LAS14]

2. That does surprise me, but logically it shouldn't.

That's the definition of "average," as you point out.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Not. Much of it is willful ignorance. It's RWA Follower psychological profile, not IQ.

See Tables 3 and 5 at this post and follow the link contained there to DailyKos for good analysis on this aspect:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8065442

[TheBaculumKing]

4. Trumputin Supporters in a Nutshell

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[yallerdawg]

5. Add to that 50% of Americans would have to have above average income.

If a significant portion of half of America is too 'intellectually impaired' to vote in their own self-interest (regardless of Mitt's 47% number), how many of the more affluent look at Republican policy as favorable to their own self-interests?

A coalition of the rich and - "for want of a better word" - the stupid, and we have a winning Republican electorate, at least half the time.

We have got to vote. They're going to.

[ag_dude]

8. Less than 40% of Americans have above average income.

[ag_dude]

6. Ummm, 50% of the population has below MEDIAN intelligence, not average.

I always chuckle a bit when people use that with the term "average".

[yallerdawg]

9. Average.

"1. a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean..."

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/average

Chuckle away.

[ag_dude]

12. Right, that's why literally EVERY....

...single accounting, engineering, and calculus program calculates average as the mean and median as the actual median.

I don't blame you, I blame our shitty education system that spends more time teaching history than basic statistics.

[yallerdawg]

13. Your beef is with the Oxford Dictionary...

and common, everyday English.

We know what we are talking about when we say "average." We aren't calculating, engineering and accounting.

But thanks for trying to correct us ignorant bloggers with our "shitty educations."

[Frank Cannon]

19. Among the STEM crowd, average refers to mean only.

But it is often used differently in the world at large, similarly to how the word "theory" has a different meaning for scientists than for TV talking heads discussing evolution.

If we're going to get all technical and talk about intelligence quotients and percentages and all that, we should probably invoke medians instead of averages. That would make the statisticians happy.

[RAFisher]

18. Yes you're 100% correct.

The distribution would have to be symmetric about the mean for 50% to have below average intelligence.

[MadDAsHell]

7. Dangerous path. My guess is a sizeable portion of lower intelligence individuals vote Democrat too.

Do we really want to dig deeper into this? We really might not like what the #'s actually show.

While I suppose it's fun to assume that only "dumb" people vote for Trump, my guess is the data would show that lower intelligence voters split fairly evenly between the parties, just like the country as a whole normally does. A few % points here and there maybe.

[DemocraticWing]

11. You are correct.

I don't think Trump supporters are all stupid...I think many of them know exactly what they are voting for. Their interests are very different than ours, and we shouldn't underestimate their abilities. They want more money and more ability to do whatever they want to hurt the poor, bomb other countries, preserve white supremacy, etc. and know that Trump wants those things too.

[lovemydog]

16. +1

[pansypoo53219]

10. the infamous BELL CURVE means there is a lOT of WHITE stupid out there, + teevee is NOT helping.

[LeftRant]

14. "There are 40% of the people who will vote for the moron no matter what...

... who are dependent upon Fox News, who believe that they are victims. ... These are people who resent paying their fair share of taxes... and so our job is not to worry about those people. We'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for others' lives."


Well, I tried :p

[jamese777]

15. Conservatives say the exact same thing

about people who are left of center, that we aren't intelligent. Their term is "low information voter."

[pinboy3niner]

17. Calling Trump supporters "dumb" is too easy, and inaccurate

That doesn't explain the people who we know are intelligent and support him.

There's a lot more going on, and dismissing it all as stupidity is...stupid.

[Frank Cannon]

20. I refer to James Randi here a lot.

He has said that highly intelligent people are often most at risk for falling for complete bullshit, because they are overly confident in their intelligence and think are just too smart to be fooled--when ANYONE can be fooled by a skilled enough charlatan.

I have worked with PhD statisticians who spent their mornings glued to Rush Limbaugh, hanging on every word he said.

[pinboy3niner]

21. I can believe it

Besides the current evidence we see, I once knew a guy who was a brilliant scientist who from time to time would come up with the most flaky, ridiculous and absurd ideas I ever heard. .

[RagAss]

22. If politics were a measurable science then I would agree..

But it's a form of art. A daily novella that plays out on the stage with the characters we have come to love or hate.