IQ and Politics: Childhood intelligence predicts voter turnout, voting preferences, and political involvement in adulthood: The 1970 British Cohort St

This fascinating story, obviously as an active member of the green party (who has previously voted lib dem) it is rather flattering.

Based on matching IQ data to voting patterns, at top at around 108 are the Greens and Lib Dems. Next at around 103/4 are the conservatives and labour and lastly at the both of the heap are UKIP and the BNP 98.

Monday 3 November 2008

Childhood intelligence is linked to voting preferences and political involvement in adulthood according to a recent study.

People with a higher intelligence in childhood were more likely to vote as adults, and were more likely to vote for the Green Party and Liberal Democrats in a general election, researchers have found.

The study, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, suggests that childhood general intelligence is associated with a person’s political allegiance as much as social class – which has been studied previously as a marker of British voting habits...

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Newspublications/News/MRC005139

and from a The Guardian commentator:

If the results of general elections are anything to go by, voting Green or Liberal Democrat must be a thankless task. But now the supporters of these parties can console themselves with the knowledge that, although they may not elect a prime minister, there's a good chance that they are cleverer than the people who do.

Academic research published in the journal Intelligence compares the way people voted in the 2001 election with their IQ at the age of 10 (using data from the 1970 British cohort study). The results are fascinating.

On a party-by-party basis, the average (childhood) IQ scores for 2001 voters were:

Green - 108.3

Liberal Democrat - 108.2

Conservative - 103.7

Labour – 103

Plaid Cymru - 102.5

Scottish National - 102.2

UK Independence - 101.1

British National - 98.4

Did not vote/None of the above - 99.7

The research was based on a survey involving 6,000 people, so it's obviously pretty authoritative...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2008/nov/03/greenpolitics-liberaldemocrats

The scientist behind this study seem to come from very reputable institutions:

Childhood intelligence predicts voter turnout, voting preferences, and political involvement in adulthood: The 1970 British Cohort St

Ian J. Deary^a,, G. David Batty^{a, b} and Catharine R. Gale^c

^aMedical Research Council Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK

^bMedical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, UK

^cMedical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK

Ian J. Deary BSc, MB, ChB, PhD (Edin), FRCPsych, FRCPE, FBA, FRSE, FMedSci Professor

G David Batty , lecturer in epidemiology. Epidemiology Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT

Dr Catherine Gale PhD

Principal Research Fellow

After studying Classics at the University of Cambridge, Catharine Gale worked in archaeological research. She then studied Population Sciences at the University of Southampton and joined the MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit in 1994. She obtained a PhD in 1998 for a thesis on the role of antioxidant vitamins in determining risk of cerebrovascular disease and cognitive decline in elderly people.

humour: The Elfish Gene

I really enjoyed this memoir, Mark Barrowcliffe is a great story teller and comedian. 

This was a great trip back into the wrold of RPGs. It's loaded with subtle humor and details the life that many wargamers knew growing up. 

I recommend this book to anyone who has had an interest in RPGs or anyone who has known a gamer

(www.amazon.com Customer Review)

Not only is very funny (I was in tears at a couple of points), but he also paints a interesting picture of a rather grey childhood grow up in a comprehensive school in the 1970s Coventry. However his parents sounded great.

I choose this memoir as:

• I need more laughs 
  
• My boyfriend is a big fan  of RPG (Role Playing Games)
  
• Mark now lives in Brighton
  

memoirnoun1 a touching memoir of her childhood account, history, record,chronicle, narrative, story, portrayal, depiction, sketch, portrait,profile, biography, monograph.2 (memoirs) : he published his memoirs in 1955 autobiography, life story, memories, recollections, reminiscences; journal, diary.

female standup: the ambassador and the exotic dancers

A few months ago I heard Nadira Alieva  on Midweek with Liby Purves. 

She was a great guest on the show, a very colourful woman: a sexy dancer  as the partner of the maverick British ambasador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, I can't remember exactly what he got in trouble for, but he definitely didn't toe the UK government line.. I always admire someone who stands up for the small people against the mega-powers of national government, corporations or organised religions. The tone of her life story was turned for radio 4 first thing in morning, she was still a great guest but perhaps some of the more exotic and shocking parts of her life were glossed over (the Newsnight interview on youtube is more provocative and brutal)

Apparently Nadira meet the British ambassador when he came to Tashkent club to see the exotic dancer, it sounds romantic, glamourous and exciting. 

For a recent blog piece, on entertaining consultants using corporate accounts to pay for lap-dancing, I stmbled on interesting article on Nadira in the Telegraph. While I love radio, when it comes to stripetease, it is a challenging medium, an I would have to say in the rather modest but provocative photos in the Telegraph, she looks great!

Nadira has wonderfully soft and musical voice and spoke with some poigancy of the world of striptease:

There was no appreciation of my body as a whole, no enjoyment of my dancing as there would have been in my native Uzbekistan, where at least I got to keep my bra and knickers on.

Clearly adjusting to life in the hard west has not been simple:

The backstage area at Spearmint Rhino was huge and well lit with mirrors everywhere and the experienced girls mingled with the new.

When I mentioned that I'd never done nudity before, they said it was no big deal.

There is a hierarchy at these clubs and sometimes you don't get the chance to dance on the bar or main stage, you just walk the floor in search of a punter.

Still she sounded resoluted and overall quite positive about her new life.

The Telegraph article also discusses her new stand-up routine:

Nadira's move to London has been traumatic but she is using her experience as the basis of a one-woman show

"Your father is taking drugs," she admitted sadly.

I soon saw the horrible evidence for myself.

I walked into our kitchen to find my father tying a tourniquet around his upper arm and gripping his fist to find a vein in which to inject his heroin fix - known as "poppy milk" in our culture.

My mother screamed: "Not in front of the children, don't do it in front of the children."

But he just shouted back: "I am their father - I can do what I want because they love me and if they stop loving me, they won't cry when I'm dead."

It may sound strange but at times I almost liked my father when he was high because he was back to his old happy and loving self.

The show reviews were quite good:

The title of The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer is ironic - the purpose of the play is to tell Nadira Murray's story and make crystal clear that she is much more than somebody's spouse. She does not see herself as a victim, but as a survivor and an achiever. In parts extremely moving, throughout Nadira Murray makes plain that these experiences - including multiple acts of sexual abuse by the police - are common experiences of her contemporaries. But the pathos is continually pierced by flashes of wit and a determination to find joy in the most trying of circumstances. Craig Murray does not appear in the narrative until the final third of the play, and any expectation that this play would be primarily about him is dashed by Nadira's initial assessment "I wondered who is this old foreigner - does he have any money?"

Craig comes across s a good fun and has apparently a strong taste for kinky spanking - good on him to be open and honest about what makes him happy! Even if he did obviously blush during the Newsnight interview ;-)

NB Apparently Craig got into trouble for refusing to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.. a man of principles.

Female standup: Nina Conti

female standup: Nina Conti

I recent did a blog piece about a great new female standup, Shappi Khorsandi. I first heard Nina on the Australian Psychology program All in the Mind on comedy.

There is something great about, attractive and witty young women dominating in this sphere, with it tradition association with bad taste humour of Bernard Manning (an outright racist?) and Ricky Geeves (having a go at the disabled?)

It is easy to get distracted by things which are wrong in the world and this blog piece, is all about a very funny original comedian who is wrestling with her inner demons in an insightful and relatively in-offensive way.

Nina's background is quite colourful (being the daughter of an internationally famous actor and the "housewives favourite": Tom Conti), Nina Conti's wiki entry mentions nice upper-middle class places like Hampstead and UEA:

Nina Conti (born 1974, in London) is a British actress, comedienne and ventriloquist. Her onstage puppet sidekick is a depressed monkey named Monk.

She was born and grew up in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson. She studied at the UEA (University of East Anglia)

The following is from the transcript of the All in the Mind podcast:

[Excerpt from Nina Conti's stage show...]

Nina: Hi, gosh there's such a lot of people in here, I can't believe I'm going to show you my monkey. Oh, Monk come on we're on, come out.

Monk: Do they know it's ventriloquism?

Nina: Yeah, they catch on quick, Monk.

Monk: Do they know how I feel about it?

Nina: No.

Monk: I think it's ridiculous and I want to do straight stand-up.

Nina: So shall we start with a joke?

Monk: No, I hate jokes.

Nina: Come on, we'll tell a joke. Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?

Monk: Because he was dead. Don't laugh, it happens you know.

Nina: How many monkeys does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Monk: Monkeys screw in trees, not light bulbs.

Nina: You're awful.

Nina Conti: And so the dirt jokes work their way in and everything through the monkey, it's impossible not to.

Reginald Hunter: Shit, I might get me a monkey, man. If it can free Nina up like that, man, what would I say if I had me a monkey?

Nina Conti: I don't think you need one.

I think Reginald Hunter has hit the nail on the head.

ventriloquist |venˈtriləkwist|

noun

a person who can speak or utter sounds so that they seem to come from somewhere else, esp. an entertainer who makes their voice appear to come from a dummy of a person or animal.

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from modern Latin ventriloquium (from Latin venter ‘belly’ + loqui ‘speak’ ) + -ist .

Female standups: Shappi Khorsandi

Shappi appears to be very fashionable with the English chattering classes, the following is from the Independent:

The stand-up comic, Shappi Khorsandi, reflects back on her childhood immigration from Tehran to London after her journalist father sparked the ire of Ayatollah Khomeini, (forcing his family into hiding, with the help of M15).

She dwells on the nostalgia and alienation such political strife brings, through the prism of a child's mind, but perhaps more charmingly, describes bittersweet encounters with her excitingly unfamiliar adoptive nation, it's stodgy food and the peculiarities of the English language ("I spent the days being a 'poppet', a 'sweetheart' and a 'love'"). 

There is something very appealing about the new generation of female standup comedians, they are intelligent, attractive and have cracking wit.

It would be easy to look at the glamour photos of Shappi and be beguiled by sassy wit to think that she has been gifted a wonderful life. The following glowing review from "Melbourne International Comedy Festival" website, hints at a more troubled past. 

Terrorism, bulimia, Enid Blyton… It hasn’t always been glamour, glamour, glamour for this sassy Iranian.

In the early '80s, Shappi became a refugee long before it was fashionable. Then Scotland Yard uncovered a plot to assassinate her father. Terror had followed them from Iran to West London.

Feisty, flirty and effortlessly funny, Shappi handles every subject with razor sharp wit, softened by a deliciously dizzy delivery and endless charm. Don’t miss her first visit to Australia.

“Britain’s best young female comic by any yardstick.” The Guardian

“… socially aware without being overbearing, and jam-packed with great gags.” chortle.co.uk

“Don’t be fooled by her innocent looks, she packs a deceptively powerful punch.” Evening Standard

I am interested in the exiled Iranian community, they seem very cultured and have a really good sense of humour, Shappi is not the only funny Iranian women in the public eye: 

• Baroness Haleh Afshar (Muslim Feminist, Socialist, Equal Opportunities ...) who came across with a great sense of humour and passion for life during her appearance on "Desert Island Discs" 
• Marjane Satrapi (Persolpis: Book & Film) both of which made me smile and with a humour full of humanity.
  

beguile |biˈgīl|

verb [ trans. ]

1 charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way : every prominent American artist has been beguiled by Maine | [as adj. ] ( beguiling) a beguiling smile. See note at tempt .

• trick (someone) into doing something : they were beguiled into signing a peace treaty.

2 dated help (time) pass pleasantly : to beguile some of the time they went to the movie theater.

DERIVATIVES

beguilement |bəˈgaɪlmənt| |biˈgaɪlmənt| noun

beguiler |bəˈgaɪlər| |biˈgaɪlər| noun

beguilingly |bəˈgaɪlɪŋli| |biˈgaɪlɪŋli| adverb

ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense [deceive, deprive of by fraud] ): from be- [thoroughly] + obsolete guile [to deceive] (see guile ).

Humour: All in the Mind: All in the mind - Comedy and the psyche

p

I want to do more blog pieces about humour, I think that I can be a little earnest at times?

This was an extremely funny and insightful podcast from the Australian Broadcast Company (ABC).

This podcast while focusing of the "psychological side" of humour, really made me laugh. Typically the "All in the Mind" series tries to a light and good humoured view of the world, even if this themes are often truly tragic. However in this episode, Natasha really let her hair down and had a blast:

Good comedians push us where few of us dare to go -- we find ourselves rolling in the aisles with shock and delight. Two top-of-the-bill acts at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival reflect on Freud, the comedic psyche and the power of the potty mouth. And, New Yorker columnist and science journalist Jim Holt unravels the rollicking history and philosophy of jokes.

Much Ado About Nothing

I am a really fan of modern film adaptions of classic stories.

I don't know why these work so well:

1) Am I intrgued by these famous stoires and history

2) Do the actors and director get into these classic roles, there must be loads of old films, books and other re-interpretations

3) A heart these are great stories, have depth, timeless characters and plots ...


The BBC's adaption of Shakespeare's "Romantic Comedy":

When Wessex Tonight newsreader Keith has a heart attack, station boss Leonard (Martin Jarvis) knows the perfect replacement - suave ladies' man Benedick (Damian Lewis). The only trouble is, his other on-screen star Beatrice (Sarah Parish) can't stand him, thanks to an unhappy love affair between the two years ago.

Meanwhile, Leonard's beautiful daughter Hero (Billie Piper) is making waves as a weathergirl, not least with dashing young sports reporter Claude (Tom Ellis). The two become an item, with Leonard's blessing. But creepy editor Don Reid (Derek Riddell) developed a huge crush on her after the pair slept together once, and just can't leave her alone.

At a fancy dress party arranged to celebrate Benedick's arrival, Benedick and Claude both dress as knights in armour. This leads to Beatrice telling Benedick exactly what she thinks of him, believing him to be Claude! Elsewhere, Don overhears Hero admit that she only slept with him because she felt sorry for him. The party is rounded off when Claude proposes to Hero.

Regarding actor's commitment to roles, I liked this:

Researching for the role, Billie visited a real-life weathergirl.

"She showed me some footage of her when she first started and that was really beneficial. There are certain ways to hold and present yourself and there's also a rhythm in the way news reporters speak – you have to get hold of that intonation. And then I just watched daytime TV solidly for about a week!"

Oh yes and she look's fantastic in a White Monoroe dress - almost as good as the original?