Musical Taste Correlates with SAT Scores?
Does human intelligence have any connection to the type of music a person listens to? Can we define human intelligence? How do you measure human intelligence? Do SAT scores accurately measure human intelligence? Is there any evidence that SAT scores accurately predict educational or workplace performance?
I am skeptical 1) that we can measure human intelligence at this time; and 2) that SAT scores are an accurate measurement of anything save a very narrow form of test-taking ability that adds little if any value in the real world.
Yet Virgil Griffith purports to measure human intelligence with SAT scores and proceeded to chart musical tastes based on average SAT scores. Is this real data science using the scientific method?
Griffith’s chart shows that Sufjan Stevens, Bob Dylan, The Shins, and the Counting Crows as the bands smart people prefer. Really?
The chart also asserts that Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, The Used, and gospel music are preferred by stupid people. Wow!
Dear readers, I sincerely ask you, do smart folks really favor John Mayer over Pink Floyd?
Comments
afeeney
Fri, 2015/10/23 - 8:05am
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Check correlations with income, math scores
Since SAT scores track strongly with household income (which correlates with race), and music tastes often correlate with income and race, I'm certain that if you correct for income, most of these correlations would disappear.
It would be potentially interesting, though, to see if there are income-corrected correlations between music tastes and math scores versus verbal scores. (While I agree that the SAT is not a solid measure of intelligence, very high scores can indicate aptitude.) Are people with strong verbal scores more attracted to music with more sophisticated lyrics? Are people with strong math scores more attracted to music with more complex structures?