The Washington Post recently used some admittedly problematic methods to arrive at an obviously oversimplified conclusion: that Georgia is one of the "dumbest" states in the country.
The state was ranked the No. 13 "dumbest" in the nation by a Post analysis in November, which has resurfaced and recirculated online ever since, and which looked at measures including estimated IQs, 2015 SAT and ACT scores and the percentage of college graduates in the state.
Georgia ranked No. 38 out of the 50 states, in descending order of intelligence.
However, the Post said, its metrics were "inherently" inexact, objectively trying to capture a subjective quality. Not to mention the metrics' possible built-in economic and racial bias: For example, college is more accessible to those of higher economic status — and there have been questions raised about racial and socioeconomic bias in the SAT and IQ testing.
"Given how hard it is to identify objective metrics of intelligence," the Post's Philip Bump wrote, "we worked with what we had."
(The only one of Georgia's immediate neighbors that ranked higher on the list, at least? Tennessee.)
About the Author
