Do you think ones taste in music is a reflection of their intellectual capacity?
 

Forgive me if there's a thread similiar to this but I didn't take the time to scan through them all. If so locking this thread is only a couple of key strokes away for you mods. I was just recently pondering this idea after viewing last nights CMA awards show. Dont get me wrong I am a fan of some country music and dont mean to specificly target just this one genre. It just happened to be the final blow that peaked my interest in this topic. I think amongst all genre's there's obvious talent to be heard. Of course with the good comes the bad and where's the defining line between music thats appealing and music thats just...well garbage. Also is it agreed upon by majority that makes it garbage and is it revealing of ones idiocracy?

No. I'm willing to bet that most of the world's geniuses don't have notably impressive taste in music.

Obama has Nikki Minaj on his IPOD.

Just wondering the I.Q. level of people who are fans of groups like oh say...Taylor Swift. You cant tell me you have never found someones taste in music repulsive and thought to yourself.."no wonder" after talking to them. Same can be said with not being a fan of certain music. Think of the band or musician who you view as one of the pioneers of a certain genre. If someone fails to recognize it and just writes it off with a simple..."well they suck" Is that not just being ignorant to of all the circumstances and conditions that make up ones taste in music?

Musicthatmakesyoudumb

Of course, we have to keep in mind viewing this study that correlation is NOT causation, so view with a grain of salt.

All I have to say is that, according to that, jazz fans are dumber than Blink 182 fans.

Music covers such a broad spectrum. Some could write me off for loving Weird Al, but that same person might side with me for my love of Charlie Parker. I would say age would be more a factor then IQ. That Taylor Swift fan will look back in years and think what was I thinking as she pops in her new cutting edge music and thinks god i'm so cool. And thats something I am trying to work on, allowing people to enjoy their music in peace without my I hate Radiohead rants. I've adapted a you're right attitude, enjoy what you deem great because to your ear it is great. And being one of the lower in intelligence people isn't so bad, i've been an idiot my whole life why stop now. Popping in some Taylor Swift now.

I don't support the findings, or even think it was done with much serious behind it (a proper researcher wouldn't confuse causation with correlation), but I do think the premise of the study is interesting and maybe worth examining in another context with greater specificity.

I like punk rock. SOME people are stereotyping punk fans with rebels that doesn't give a damn about school and fail every test there is, while commiting crimes and not caring about anything. But then there's me, and the actual majority of punk fans, that is the complete opposite. About every girl I know listens to Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and One Direction, and they all score differently on tests. PSY's Gangnam Style is not really what I call intellectual, but the majority of people at my school listens to it. And everyone is different when it comes to intelligence. I know a metalhead too, and he scores pretty good at tests. My point is, I don't really think that music has SO much to say about someones intelligence. And as someone mentioned before me, Obama has Nicki Minaj on his iPod...

Now I REALLY REALLY hope that I got your question right.

:laughing:

Wouldn't that be rather painful on the eyes? :eek:

Seriously though, no: you can't equate someone's IQ with how well-versed/knowledgeable they are with music. It could be just ignorance (if introduced to a genre/subgenre someone who had scoffed at it before may get into it), laziness, lack of interest or time, or a whole lot of reasons why someone might not be into a particular style, or just into one. That of course may change over time, and though you can say, as was mentioned, that age can be a factor in appreciating music, it can also go the other way: some people of a certain age will consider "all today's music is just noise" and refuse to listen to it. How is that any less close-minded than someone saying "Nicky Minaj is da bomb" or whatever, and sticking with that style? And we could be talking about professors, lawyers, doctors here (for the former example, obviously, not the latter!)

And yet, if someone listens to Britney or One Direction or Westlife of Lil this that or the other, does that make them any less intelligent than someone who listens to Mozart, Flaming Lips, Sun O))) or Sigur Ros, or even someone who is heavily into In Flames or Slipknot? Hardly.

You don't have to be intelligent to be into music, but you need to be open-minded and willing to listen to other views in order to be able to enjoy music as a whole. If you want to; some people are happy with their rock and/or roll, or their pop or their classical, and that's fine too, if that's what they want. None of these things impinge on or define a person's IQ in my opinion.

I think that someones taste in music is primarily a way to express their (his) attitude toward the world. Because music as a medium serves for conveying feelings, attitudes, etc. - JUst my opinion... :band:

I'm totally agree with this. I think that way, too, but if we take a look at the facts, I'm sure that ~90% of the people that listen to classical music have an IQ more than ~120 and only ~20% of the people who listen to Niki Minaj have got IQ more than ~120. So, you can't say if a person is dumb or smart just by the type of music that he listens to, but it can leave you a first impression of this person.

Weird Al Yankovic graduated high school at the age of 16 and was the valedictorian of his class. He is a pretty smart guy, so he has to be rewriting some pretty intelligent lyrics, right? So who's writing off whom?

I personally think a multitude of factors like intelligence plays a part. Throw in up bringing, influences and ones environment to correlate with ones tastes.

Reason in the way I see it reflects intelligence. Is it possible listening to music for absolutely no reason?

I do not think taste has anything to do with IQ. I know doctors who are metal heads, engineers that are trance fans and complete idiots that like classical. Upbringing and life in general play a bigger part I think than IQ ever will. Life influences taste. You may hate a type of music but then you go out with friends and have an absolute blast listening to this music you hate.. Next thing you know you're buying it. That is not IQ but rather opening your mind a little. Music is not about your IQ, it is about what gets you going, what relaxes you or what you can relate to or I guess in one line, it is what speaks to your soul.

This is an interesting point...I think how someone listens to music might reflect intelligence in some way. In my experience people who are really into prog have been pretty smart. At least nerdy. I think this is because to be really interested in that kind of music, you have to have some kind of appreciation for the technical side of music. However, someone who is into prog might like Coldplay, and according to Pedestrian's graph Coldplay fans can also be dumb. I would imagine, however, that the prog fan would probably be listening to them and dissecting all their time signatures. The low SAT scorer is probably listening to them for their pretty sounds. There are exceptions everywhere, so you would never be able to prove this one way or the other but I know I tend to judge people based on the reasons they listen to certain things.

Even though this isn't totally black and white, I have noticed 2 extremes with metalheads. There are pretty smart guys and then meatheads. This is because metal has the potential to appeal to both of those extremes. The smart guys can appreciate its technical side and the meatheads think it's badass.

I know people saying "I only listen to what's on the lists". That's not a good reason, if you ask me.

I dunno, Yes and no. But if you are listening to music to sound intelligent then it is just a front and you are not feeling it, like hipsters.

I would like to think that the avrage IQ of people who listen to Jazz/Classical music is higher than the avrage IQ of Justin Beiber/One Direction fans.
With that said, Its still just an assumption. I have no proof for that

No I agree with you too.

I dunno... I've known people at near genius levels of intelligence that had absolutely no sense of taste in regard to clothes, art, design, or anything creative or aesthetically based.

As a general observation, I'd say that the kind of intelligence we're talking about is something separate from creative or aesthetic intelligence. It has been well agreed upon that there isn't one simple "IQ" that can be statically derived. Different people excel at different things, and our brains develop in such a way that we can be music virtuosos, or mathematical geniuses exclusively, but without any sort of ranking for one above the other. It's just a matter of what we happen to be good at, which betrays a higher quotient for that specific skill, and not some arbitrary ranking of general intelligence.

With that said, I think one's taste in music simply reflects their taste. I think it's more important to assume that such a thing is a reflection of their character and environment, rather than their brain's processing power. I wouldn't discount intelligence at least playing some role, but I would absolutely not use music taste as a gauge of intelligence.

I don't think that would be very intelligent...

Now, why would you specifically bring up Coldplay and only Coldplay, and say that their fans are stupid. I'm a DIEHARD fan, and I am definetly not stupid at all, along with many other fans that I know. So, if you are going to do an example, show results from multiple artists, and not just one.

...I think he was just using that as an example. I don't think he was using Coldplay specifically to piss you off...

Easy Killer :laughing:

What did you expect Chris Martin to just let that comment go. Chris tell Gwyneth I said whats up.

How did you expect him to act.... Yellow?

I'm just gonna go on the record and say I like some Coldplay songs. And i'm a total idiot, so there is some correlation.

I feel like music has a lot to deal with society, environment, and ethnic group not so much IQ. Once a person gets out of their bubble they can explore other aspects of what makes a great song.
I bet you can find at least one Opera song a metal head likes or one hip hop song a opera person likes.

Music doesn't have a science when it comes to the listener. Just like how beauty is interrupted in many ways so is music.

:laughing:

Yes and no. :yeah:

Yes, and I actually enjoy a little Coldplay sometimes.

It's funny that's what he picked up on in my whole post. Maybe he's just proving my point.

Interesting question, but I feel like going against the grain with some of the beliefs in the answers I have read. There can also be fake intellectuals who listen to so-called upper-IQ music and Bubblegum Pop listeners who can seriously have a very high IQ - Facing a lot of stress, maybe one needs a major break from thinking a hell of a lot, and maybe something like that can relieve some tension, especially when it's performed by someone that's attractive to the listener in many cases. We have seen a lot of people go through that, always making us wonder why they listen to "that stuff".

I can fully understand some of the opinions, and judging from my real life surroundings I'm bound to agree, but only about 80-90 percent of the time. There's always room for "the exception to the rule."

I only think it affects their mental capacity when they listen to Happy Hardcore.

Use of the laughing emoticon means you are a genius. Trust me on this.

lol

:beer:

What if they are the type of people that like 'everything'? :rolleyes: