08 Jan 06
Originally posted by RookRAKflatter subsidies on the women's side of the gym ....
So, is the consensus that there would be a statistically significant difference in average IQ between sports?
To go further, what about gender difference. I live near Dartmouth College. I've noticed that Ivy League, and other top academic schools have no problem fielding women's teams at the top of the college game. Yet men's teams at top schools ...[text shortened]... ean that women who excel are more likely to excel in several dimensions, and men less likely?
08 Jan 06
1 edit
Originally posted by CliffLandinHmm, I was a national (not world)-class 'mathlete' in high school, and have met a fair few of these people. They were generally not among the people I have met who I consider most intelligent, even about maths, in which they generally had a strong but superficial interest. The last bit might not be true of the actual world-class mathletes, given the large proportion of these who become mathematicians.
My vote is for those world class mathaletes.
Actually, few of the people I consider clever take artificial competition very seriously. Maybe this affects the proportion of these people who compete in (m)athletics.
25 Sep 09
I am a swimmer in high school. Not that I'm biased at all, but swimming does seem to have a dense population of intelligent people. It has been the only means through which I have met not one, but two perfect ACT scorers aside from myself, and we are all on just one team. Of course that isn't everything, but I do feel like swimmers are slightly more studious, if not more intelligent. On another note, this is for a club organization.
I have also heard that swimmers have the highest NCAA graduation rate of all athletes, but I'm not 100% on this fact.
25 Sep 09
2 edits
Originally posted by Jafongoit does appear that runners, swimmers, cyclists - especially in the long-distance events - generally seem to be smarter than average.
I am a swimmer in high school. Not that I'm biased at all, but swimming does seem to have a dense population of intelligent people. It has been the only means through which I have met not one, but two perfect ACT scorers aside from myself, and we are all on just one team. Of course that isn't everything, but I do feel like swimmers are slightly more studious ...[text shortened]... wimmers have the highest NCAA graduation rate of all athletes, but I'm not 100% on this fact.
The irony is that these events require the LEAST amount of actual intelligence to do. Consider a sport like basketball. You're constantly making so many decisions. At a given moment, the following questions may all arise -- Should I pass the ball, Who should I pass it to? Should I shoot now? Or should I drive to the hoop? How much time is left? If I do shoot now, can this defender block it? Should I do a hook shot? If I do shoot, should I run in to get the rebound or should I drop back to thwart a possible fast break? 24 second violation??..oops - I guess I took too long making up my mind.
But I know from experience that long-distance running has almost none of this. Very often, the main objective seems to be just finding something to do with your mind during the 15 or 30 some odd minutes (or more) that you're competing.
I wonder -- does having a relatively high level of "IQ"-type intelligence actually interfere with "rapid-fire decision-making"-type intelligence? (Or vice-versa?)
25 Sep 09
Originally posted by JafongoWhy the heck would swimmers be the most smart? They just have to jump in the pool and swim. There's an absolute zero need of intelligence in such a sport.
I am a swimmer in high school. Not that I'm biased at all, but swimming does seem to have a dense population of intelligent people. It has been the only means through which I have met not one, but two perfect ACT scorers aside from myself, and we are all on just one team. Of course that isn't everything, but I do feel like swimmers are slightly more studious ...[text shortened]... wimmers have the highest NCAA graduation rate of all athletes, but I'm not 100% on this fact.
25 Sep 09
3 edits
Originally posted by Palynkathat's the point I was trying to make.
Why the heck would swimmers be the most smart? They just have to jump in the pool and swim. There's an absolute zero need of intelligence in such a sport.
it seems like the sports that have the most intelligent people (at least stereotypically) are often the ones that require the least amount of it. Hence my idea that there are two major "types" of intelligence. One devoted to formal systems (IQ-type), and the other devoted to rapidly making many decisions at once, which would be applicable to many real-life situations including sports and social situations. And that these each of these intelligence systems might somehow interfere with the other. It would help to explain the stereotype that highly intelligent people tend to be really awkward at both sports and social situations.
But yes, data is needed. I know. I'll see what I can find. But I suspect that studies of this sort are lacking because it might lead to taboo discussions about "racial differences".
A quick google search has turned up nothing useful regarding this topic. It seems like it would be a fertile area of study. Does anyone have links to something useful?