Intelligent people drink more alcohol, studies show

Shryke

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Sweeping generalisations as such never warrant much merit.
However I understand that deep thinkers would want to escape their own mind from time to time. We all have our vices. The pacman is a big drinker for example, but then so too is Twink...

It does of course destroy brain cells too

I don't believe that has ever been proven. It does effect brain chemistry but destroying brain cells isn't something that it does, and the brain is more robust than people think in this area. It does recover and repair itself.
It seems drinking in moderation is the best thing you can do, more so than abstaining. Moderate intake seems overall beneficial. Binging on anything is going to be damaging though, especially in the long term.

Haelium wrote: »

Did a search, didn't find any details on the methodology, but I did find this:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/201011/why-do-smarter-healthier-and-richer-people-drink-moderately

If we had a few more studies from different regions I'd love to see the corollaries. Your link gives to the idea that people with more control over their lives submit themselves less to alcohol and drug abuse. That's a good point to make. But it has a huge flaw for me.
You're talking about post grads vs. the rest in the US and getting a post grad doesn't equate to intellect. We all know idiots that have degrees. Any dumbass can graft away for a qualification.
I'm not knocking post grads either! I would give more credence to a (the OPs) study that gauged, hands on, the intelligence of participants rather than one that went by the means of classifying someone with a degree as automatically more intelligent, when they may well just be more well off in the case of the US and its university system. There are more holes to pick at there.
It seems to have been a survey that was done as well? People tend to lie on those things. The OPs study would be more concrete in that regard as well maybe?

Neither study to me seems particularly sound but we don't need science to know there's truth in something, although citations always help. I may be going on a bit..

gb40

Homer Simpson had it right!

UCDVet

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

trolling post?

There is a well known relationship between intelligence and religious faith. The more intelligent someone is the less likely they are to self-identify as religious.

A quick Google will turn up studies that show it.

I also know some religions explicitly say getting drunk is a bad thing, or even that alcohol consumption is bad. So I wondered if it could explain the differences in drinking and intelligence.

Rynox45

Seems obligatory to point out that "Intelligent people drink more" and "Those who drink are more intelligent" aren't equivalent statements.

juan.kerr

So does that mean non drinkers are dumb?

This study wasn't paid for by the drinks industry by any chance?

As with most of these studies it is a load of ********.

UCDVet

juan.kerr wrote: »

So does that mean non drinkers are dumb?

This study wasn't paid for by the drinks industry by any chance?

As with most of these studies it is a load of ********.

No, it doesn't mean non-drinkers are dumb.
It also doesn't mean drinking makes someone more intelligent.

It shows a correlation between intelligence and drinking. That's about it.

Studies show that more educated people earn more than those without the same educational attainment levels. That doesn't mean all rich people are educated or that no educated people are poor, or that every single person who didn't go to college earns less than everyone who did.

gbee

Did it say what was drunk? I doubt it would refer to the average Dutch Gold candidate from a corpo estate tbh.

YellowFeather

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/smarter-people-drink-alcohol-more-often-studies-195846264.html wrote:

Drunk people may do some stupid things, but two studies are showing people who drink more are actually smarter. This is according to data from the National Child Development Study in the U.K. and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the U.S. Researchers measured kids intelligence before they turned 16 and put them in one of five categories ranging from very bright to very dull.

Ah here. These guys need more alcohol.

juan.kerr

UCDVet wrote: »

Studies show that more educated people earn more than those without the same educational attainment levels. That doesn't mean all rich people are educated or that no educated people are poor, or that every single person who didn't go to college earns less than everyone who did.

Thanks for clearing that up. Now, can you take a look at my limping cat please?

UCDVet

juan.kerr wrote: »

Thanks for clearing that up. Now, can you take a look at my limping cat please?

No worries - lots of guys suffer from 'limping cat' problems. Talk to your doctor....they can probably get you some pills.

flutterflye

I think I must be fairly dim then - I rarely drink.
Ah well, back I go to counting my split ends. So far I counted eleventeen.

flutterflye

UCDVet wrote: »

No worries - lots of guys suffer from 'limping cat' problems. Talk to your doctor....they can probably get you some pills.

What about my cat - will she eat my baby if I leave her alone with him?

UCDVet

flutterflye wrote: »

What about my cat - will she eat my baby if I leave her alone with him?

Cats can be dangerous and in extreme cases they *do* eat babies; but only very cute ones.

Your baby should be fine

Aodh Rua

some random drunk wrote: »

more here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/smarter-people-drink-alcohol-more-often-studies-195846264.html

If more intelligent people drank more alcohol, they wouldn't drink so much. You can say "they're too smart for this world" and all its variants but realistically all we actually know is that we have only this world. And that drinking in excess is stupid and short sighted.

WindSock

'Intelligent people drink more'

'Studies show intelligent people use illegal drugs regularly'

'Athiests are more intelligent than thiests'

I always think some gombeen who does these things / are these things, sits around all day trying to prove themselves or justify their choices by showing how more intelligent they are than everyone else.

Sin City

Hic, alert Mensha, Im a genuish, hic

Archeron

Everybody grab a bottle of whiskey and head for the large hadron collider.

666irishguy

Intelligence might mean they get a better job and in turn have more money and free time to socialise and drink more.

Sin City

Brian Cowan.

I think that says it all

kowloon

Is this just another case of someone doing a survey and jumping to conclusions, making no effort to understand their findings?

Reminds me of the whole 'people who drink moderately are healthier and live longer' BS. As it turns out, many people who drink nothing at all abstain because they're in bad health, some of them even being recovering alcoholics. They skew the result by dying earlier. But it gets into the papers on a slow day and becomes accepted as fact.

Chuck Stone

I'm very receptive to the idea but it's probably a load of bollocks.

Trying to connect two random and subjective variables like IQ and alcohol consumption is questionable science.

*cracks open can*

Shryke

kowloon wrote: »

Is this just another case of someone doing a survey and jumping to conclusions, making no effort to understand their findings?

Reminds me of the whole 'people who drink moderately are healthier and live longer' BS. As it turns out, many people who drink nothing at all abstain because they're in bad health, some of them even being recovering alcoholics. They skew the result by dying earlier. But it gets into the papers on a slow day and becomes accepted as fact.

Heavy drinkers who become moderate ones live longer and are healthier than heavy drinkers who then abstain. People who are definitive moderate drinkers come out well against all other groups. How well they come out may be over all skewed but that's just something more to look at, it doesn't mean you chuck everything.
Stats will vary, if you don't like looking at them then don't look. No one's claiming absolute truths, only what the evidence points toward.

nice1franko

"Of the demonstrably wise there are but two: those who commit suicide, & those who keep their reasoning faculties atrophied with drink."
- Mark Twain

B.A._Baracus

UCDVet wrote: »

There is a well known relationship between intelligence and religious faith. The more intelligent someone is the less likely they are to self-identify as religious.

A quick Google will turn up studies that show it.

I also know some religions explicitly say getting drunk is a bad thing, or even that alcohol consumption is bad. So I wondered if it could explain the differences in drinking and intelligence.

Well first off I think its mental to say athiests are more intelligent than people of faith. Thats like saying, for random example, Mexicans as a whole are less intelligent than the rest of the world. Its a very bold statement to make about millions of people. Oh and for "googling studies" - anyone can find a 'study' for anything. Its the internet man. Right now you can search up for studies on how homosexuality is genetic and other studies that state how its not :pac:


But lets look at this threads "study" - so the more you drink the more smarter you are. But another will say the more you drink the more brain cells get killed off. Yet another will say about how drinking more will cause health problems (i'm leaning towards this one more) .. but studies studies studies :pac: its all crap man. They can't all be right.

dttq

some random drunk wrote: »

more here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/smarter-people-drink-alcohol-more-often-studies-195846264.html

Well I've always known we are a nation of geniuses, what do ye folks make of this?

Is there the slightest of possibilities that it just makes a lot of people think their smarter? I've lost count of the amount of fellas who deem themselves to be an authority and expert on everything from politics to philosophy after a few pints. I can easily imagine the same types partaking in surveys such as this, "yeah I drink a fair bit now mind you, and I'm a feckin expert on x, y and z".

The Snipe

Its cause smarter people have better jobs and can afford more alcohol then dumber people.

dttq

The Snipe wrote: »

Its cause smarter people have better jobs and can afford more alcohol then dumber people.

But what about a smart person in a poorly paid job and an idiot in a highly paid job (nothing out of the extraordinary when you look around), this survey would still seem to insinuate that the former drinks more than the latter based on a measure of intelligence, regardless of income levels.

Smidge

UCDVet wrote: »

Cats can be dangerous and in extreme cases they *do* eat babies; but only very cute ones.

Your baby should be fine

Meeoooowww :pac:

B.A._Baracus

The Snipe wrote: »

Its cause smarter people have better jobs and can afford more alcohol then dumber people.

1 euro a can in most off-licenses. Cheap wine and spirits in Lidl, Aldi and Tesco. Even a person on the social welfare can be an alcoholic these days.

Gummy Panda

I must be stupid then