Prepare to Be Offended

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Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, came by Big Think today to share his unconventional wisdom about highly intelligent people and their preferences. Liberals, he says, are smarter than conservatives. Beautiful people are more intelligent than ugly ones. And male scientists and hard-core criminals tend to do their best work when they are younger, and are driven by the same psychological need: “getting laid.”
In case our high-IQ users feel complacent about some of Kanazawa’s conclusions, be warned that his next book is provisionally titled “Escaping Biology: Why Intelligent People Are the Ultimate Losers in Life.”

A paragraph on his Web site captures his take-no-prisoners spirit of inquiry:

“If the truth offends people, it is our job as scientists to offend them. Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen.” “‘If what I say is wrong (because it is illogical or lacks credible scientific evidence), then it is my problem. If what I say offends you, it is your problem.” Prepare to be offended.

We’ll post his provocative interview in a few days.

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.