Should people who got less than 500 points in the leaving even allowed to vote?

09-09-2017 06:28AM

The leaving cert isn't a good way to judge intelligence. You'd rule out some of the smartest people on the planet. You wouldn't have a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Not that I think the idea is good at all.
Our current system means every idiot in the street has a voice. If they elect an idiot so be it

Stokolan · 09-09-2017 06:32AM

marcus001 wrote: »

High intelligence is correlated with higher income but the average wage for someone with an IQ of 115 is still no more than 50,000 as far as I know. Once you start getting into higher figures the correlation is not as strong between intelligence and income.

I got 170 points in the leaving and I'm set to make close to €100k this year. So your assessment is a bit off.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 09-09-2017 06:37AM

Special needs people should not be allowed to vote.

It was abused in my area during the Gay Marriage Ref.

I don't like that, I don't like it at all.

Anybody who takes advantage of a mentally retarded person is a scumbag and an utter creeper.

09-09-2017 06:46AM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote:

Special needs people should not be allowed to vote.

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote:

It was abused in my area during the Gay Marriage Ref.

Following this train of thought will we ban Oaps too? The church organizes mini buses to bring oaps to the polling booth for abortion referendum.
If you start banning groups where do you stop.
It's all very unconstitutional anyway

Donald Trump · 09-09-2017 06:54AM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Special needs people should not be allowed to vote.

I strongly disagree.

People from Kerry are just as entitled to vote as the rest of us

Even if they keep voting for the Healys-Rae

S. Goodspeed · 09-09-2017 07:00AM

I know this is a trolling thread but the whole thing of dismissing the leaving cert as a "useless memory test" is just rubbish. If you work hard (may or may not involved learning things off and memory) you will for the most part do well, and the Leaving Cert rightly recognises and rewards that, something which we as a society should be promoting rather than mocking. But I guess that's why we have a reputation for being begrudgers.

Fanny Wank · 09-09-2017 07:00AM

marcus001 wrote: »

I think the country would be run better if we didn't have so many politicians appealing to the lowest common denominator.

What about the clever people (anyone who says "smart" really pisses me off) who are retired and pandered to constantly with vote buying attempts by most political parties?

I've long advocated a system where your vote is worth 1. You are asked (would need to be done electronically and obviously would never really work in practice) 5 fairly simple questions when voting. Each one you get wrong your vote is multiplied by 0.8. questions such as

- who is the outgoing Taoiseach?
- which party does your first preference parish pumper actually represent?

Etc

Donald Trump · 09-09-2017 07:02AM

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The leaving cert isn't a good way to judge intelligence. You'd rule out some of the smartest people on the planet. You wouldn't have a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Not that I think the idea is good at all.
Our current system means every idiot in the street has a voice. If they elect an idiot so be it

Bill Gates won a merit based scholarship that is awarded to less than one percent of all applicants when he finished high school.

And he got into Harvard. Not exactly a traditional route taken by gobshites unless their daddy has a few billion. He took a break from his studies to start his company.

I don't think he'd have been struggling to get 100 points in the Leaving

09-09-2017 07:03AM

Donald Trump wrote: »

I strongly disagree.

People from Kerry are just as entitled to vote as the rest of us

Even if they keep voting for the Healys-Rae

Funniest comment on boards in months goes to Donald Trump

DEFTLEFTHAND · 09-09-2017 07:04AM

Donald Trump wrote: »

I strongly disagree.

People from Kerry are just as entitled to vote as the rest of us

Even if they keep voting for the Healys-Rae

Anybody who takes advantage of these folks needs to be given a good kick up the arse.

I can't think of anything lower than manipulating the mentally retarded.

It's sick.

marcus001 · 09-09-2017 07:08AM

Stokolan wrote: »

I got 170 points in the leaving and I'm set to make close to €100k this year. So your assessment is a bit off.

What are averages?

09-09-2017 07:10AM

Take the George Hooks of this world. He'd be up there in the 500s yet he constantly defends Trump & worse still voted one party (FG) his whole life. I wouldn't be happy with the likes of him running things. Despite his intelligence he's blatantly racist & wants to ban ALL Muslims from Ireland.

Wesser · 09-09-2017 07:12AM

You forgot to put the word ' be' in the title of your thread.

Wesser · 09-09-2017 07:12AM

You forgot to put the word ' be' in the title of your thread.

09-09-2017 07:13AM

Wesser wrote: »

You forgot to put the word ' be' in the title of your thread.

Less than 500 do you think?

Cork Lass · 09-09-2017 07:21AM

"Should people who got less than 500 points in the leaving even allowed to vote?"

You couldn't even get your own thread title right - should you be allowed to vote?

DEFTLEFTHAND · 09-09-2017 07:32AM

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Following this train of thought will we ban Oaps too? The church organizes mini buses to bring oaps to the polling booth for abortion referendum.
If you start banning groups where do you stop.
It's all very unconstitutional anyway

OAPs are not mentally retarded.

What Church are you talking about? The CC do not mobilise such persons.

There hasn't even been a ref on abortion on this island yet.

The abortion point btw is not a exclusively a Church thing, I think you'll find that many non religious people are also against such a practice.

09-09-2017 07:45AM

Never suggested they were. I was comparing groups taking advantage of them and bussing large groups of them to the polling booth

At the last abortion referendum the local priests around the country organised buses to collect oaps from old folk homes to vote in the referendum. The outrage at the time was that many were not even sure what they were voting for. Many were beyond making a decision for themselves.

I voted in an abortion referendum here in Ireland. In the late 80s I think. It's how we have the stupid wording in the constitution in the first place.

http://www.thejournal.ie/abortion-referendum-1983-what-happened-1225430-Dec2013/

Edit: not all special needs people are "mentally restarted"

WinnyThePoo · 09-09-2017 07:51AM

How's transition year going OP?

09-09-2017 07:57AM

RayM wrote: »

One could argue that the person who gets 380 points without opening a book is more naturally intelligent than the person who gets 500 after spending two years studying their arse off in an expensive grind school.

The person with the 380 probably had an out and out blast with many friends and has tonnes of fond memories from their school days too.

You've actually pretty much described me there. I got a little lower than those points but was never a man to hit the books hard, just did enough. I have amazing memories and still have friends from then. I turned out fine and have a job I love doing that has next to no relevance to my LC results. Most of the people I knew that got north of 450 were socially awkward, never dating or messing around with girls and barely involved in any of the fun shenanigans we still look back on with fondness.

I'd much rather that my kid was a well rounded and happy individual growing up. There's a lot to be said for emotional intelligence too.

blinding · 09-09-2017 08:01AM

Should people in fianna fail be allowed to vote....

Yes ...and a few times to make up for their smarts deficiency....

09-09-2017 08:03AM

Should people who got less than 500 points in the leaving even be allowed to run for office?

This might have been a better question. What's the point of only nerds being allowed to vote when we have some morons running for office.

Better choice Only Nerds to run for office but let everyone vote?

GhostyMcGhost · 09-09-2017 08:04AM

Jesus Wept wrote: »

1/10

****ing great username!

Chuchote · 09-09-2017 08:07AM

Should people who got less than 500 points in the Leaving even be allowed to drive? :P

Neon_Lights · 09-09-2017 08:07AM

I reckon being a career politician is what causes the bull not voters. You should only be allowed serve 2 terms max in the Dail. Whatever bull plop talking shop or organisations you want to pursue after that, go nuts. Party politics just shows how self serving and endemic corruption is in plain sight.

09-09-2017 08:09AM

Chuchote wrote: »

Should people who got less than 500 points in the Leaving even be allowed to drive? :P

Yes but not in high heels

Annasopra · 09-09-2017 08:12AM

gitzy16v wrote: »

Re-reg's are getting smarter.

This one isn't smart

storker · 09-09-2017 08:14AM

RayM wrote: »

I'm not sure that ability to learn things off by heart is the best measure of a person's intelligence, tbh.

It's probably not a bad measure of their aptitude for being a politician, though.

marcus001 · 09-09-2017 08:17AM

Omackeral wrote: »

The person with the 380 probably had an out and out blast with many friends and has tonnes of fond memories from their school days too.

You've actually pretty much described me there. I got a little lower than those points but was never a man to hit the books hard, just did enough. I have amazing memories and still have friends from then. I turned out fine and have a job I love doing that has next to no relevance to my LC results. Most of the people I knew that got north of 450 were socially awkward, never dating or messing around with girls and barely involved in any of the fun shenanigans we still look back on with fondness.

I'd much rather that my kid was a well rounded and happy individual growing up. There's a lot to be said for emotional intelligence too.

In my experience the socially awkward ones actually did surprisingly poorly in the leaving. Turns out they weren't nerds they were just quiet.

These are the same excuses people who did poorly in the leaving cert used to use back in the day. "Well I'd rather be well rounded" etc. I did better than all the so called nerds in my school and played GAA the entire time, had plenty of friends and a girlfriend. When I went to college everyone in my course got over 500 as well and they were all more or less the same as me. Not a single one of them would be considered socially awkward. Again just an excuse people use for being a lazy ****e and not studying. Its like saying, "I could be better than Wayne Rooney if I trained as hard as him" but you don't.

Also, north of 450 seems a pretty low bar to be considered so intelligent it begins to affect your social skills. Perhaps a hint of jealousy?

storker · 09-09-2017 08:19AM

marcus001 wrote: »

Exams are essentially a test of IQ and work ethic. .

This is so wrong that I am seriously doubting your own intelligence. Even more so that at the start of the thread...

Should people who got less than 500 points in the leaving even allowed to vote?

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