# Octopus has a point

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [March 31, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062 "2021-03-31T02:30:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/41 "2021-04-01T17:26:49Z")

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One fish  
two fish  
red fish  
blue fish

Are you literally shaking? Can you even?

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**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/42 "2021-04-01T17:35:46Z")

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Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is shittier than You.

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/43 "2021-04-01T18:08:43Z")

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> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> > [@octopus](#):
> >
> > On the right we got conspiracy nuts. On the left we have folks who think stealing sneakers and then torching the foot locker is social justice.
> 
> So you’re dismissing the fringe on the right as nuts, but you think the fringe on the left is mainstream? Not a whole lot of leftists consider burning down a private business to be social justice. Most leftists, even if they’ll throw their support to a protest are generally against rioting.  
> You do understand the difference between protesting and rioting, right?

Sure he does. “Protesting” is something folks that he\* calls conservatives do, and “rioting” is what libs do.

\*along with a distressingly large number of other individuals

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/44 "2021-04-01T18:16:15Z")

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Are you really so stupid that you think that is in one the books that the Seuss estate chose to no longer publish?

Or are you just lying yet again?

Do you actually expect to be taken seriously when you demonstrate such a poor understanding of reality?

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/45 "2021-04-01T18:21:35Z")

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You? Did you mispronoun !$@A11a?

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/46 "2021-04-01T18:22:26Z")

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I guess since making shit up is something that Octopus approves of, the following will be just fine:

I wish Octopus luck in his quest to nationalize the publishing industry, and give the government full control over every publishing company, allowing bureaucrats to decide what may be published, and what MUST be published. It’s time (says Octopus) to stop allowing private companies to decide what books they can stop printing.

Good luck, Octopus and your fellow Comrades, in your quest to implement the Glorious Five Year Plan Outline of Nationalizing The Economy For Respect Of Our Glorious Leaders.

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/47 "2021-04-01T18:25:48Z")

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> [@octopus](#):
>
> No. Because either the study is valid or it isn’t based upon evidence and reason.

Given that all you offered was an abstract of a study, that you doubtless just Googled from memory and didn’t actually examine the data and statistical analysis yourself, there’s no question about whether you expect us to take it seriously: you don’t even take it seriously yourself. There’s no substance to your claim, _except_ that you’re citing a discredited racist idiot to support your own biases. Weak, dude.

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**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/48 "2021-04-01T18:26:53Z")

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I knew it, the Mollusk is not a follower of Qanon, but… Q-Bert! 😃  
.  
.  
.  
… Or a relative.

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/49 "2021-04-01T18:29:15Z")

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That may be an improvement over our current state of ludicrous affairs. Probably can still buy and manufacture, which is even more important, a Mr. Potato Head in China.

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/50 "2021-04-01T18:31:42Z")

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I have to applaud your breadth of pop culture knowledge. 🙂

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/51 "2021-04-01T18:38:26Z")

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Ah, so you _do_ want to abolish the notion of private property, and have the government dictate what goods may and will be supplied.

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**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/52 "2021-04-01T18:55:00Z")

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The study was done 7 years ago but the data used was from a data base that was over the years from 1972-2004. Also measure of intelligence was based on a vocabulary test of 10 words.

They did attempt to adjust their finding according to covariates inclinding race (white black other), eductation , marital status and household income, and doing so cut the size of their effect by about 1/3. Best case scenario between the most strongly Republican vs the most strongly Democrat, a look at nearly 6000 respondents there is about a 1.26 pt IQ difference with statistical signifance 0.001\<p\<0.01.

To my eye as a trained statistician this means absolutely squat. Modeling and correcting for covariates is never perfect, and with this small an effect and this large a sample size, a slightly misspecified statistical model can make random result appear statically significant. Particularly since other measures of conservatives such as voting pattern and opinions on issues seem to trend in the opposite direction (opposition to Homosexuality has a strongly statistically significant negative effect on IQ according to the paper).

When you then add in the fact that the data comes from a span of years over which there has been demographic shifts, and what it means to be a Republican has radically changed, and has made no attempt to take time into account, I wouldn’t know how to interpret the results even if they were real. They seem to use their contradictory results to make some story about social vs economic Republicans, my guess it that any difference is due to the fact that the changes in social attitudes have markedly changed over the years, such that its really just a change in the measure of verbal intelligence over time (or else its just random garbage, still the most likely scenario)

If I were reviewing this paper I wouldn’t recommend publishing it, but then I don’t know about the editorial policies of the journal, and given some of the other articles published

[Spearman’s hypothesis tested on European Jews vs non-Jewish Whites and vs Oriental Jews: Two meta-analyses](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289614000130)

[Individual differences in preferences for cues to intelligence in the face](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289614000142)

I’m not sure that there is a very high bar.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/53 "2021-04-01T18:56:04Z")

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> [@octopus](#):
>
> That may be an improvement over our current state of ludicrous affairs. Probably can still buy and manufacture, which is even more important, a Mr. Potato Head in China.

I mean, you can still buy Mr and Mrs Potato Head here as well, the only thing that changed was the brand name. Even then, it was their choice, no one forced them to or banned the name, they could certainly change it back without facing any type of fines.

So, either you already knew that are are just spewing bs or you didn’t know that and now you do so you won’t repeat it any more.

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/54 "2021-04-01T19:14:12Z")

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My money is on him repeating the lie.

When all that you have in your life is lies, you cling to them tightly, with all the might of your tentacles.

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**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/55 "2021-04-01T19:23:24Z")

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I bet that you also didn’t know that Gottlieb **cancelled** the development of the sequel with Q\*bertha back in 1983.

Those bastards! The cancel culture people were working hard then too… 😝

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/56 "2021-04-01T20:31:31Z")

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> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> So, either you already knew that are are just spewing bs or you didn’t know that and now you do so you won’t repeat it any more.

I think he’s made clear that he wants the government to control not only publishing companies, but toy manufacturing and advertising as well.

In the Glorious Regime, toy companies will have to submit all plans for any changes to their toy lines to the Department of Toy Approvals, run by a good comrade and Party member who will tell the companies what they may or may not sell.

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/57 "2021-04-01T21:49:23Z")

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Damn right. That is Mr. Potato Heads! Not Ms. Yam Heads. Not Xer Turnips. Not Ve Tomatillix.

Oh, and that department will be located right next to the Department of Cake Approval.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/58 "2021-04-02T16:46:50Z")

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No, it will be located next to the Department of Forcing Gays to Accept they Have No Rights.

Your attempt at a gotcha falls flat. What you want is the ability to discriminate. You want a return to separate water fountains, and your “inferiors” at the back of the bus.

“Wahhhh! The law won’t allow me to throw someone out of my store because they are gay! Wahhhh!”

Tough shit for you. Suck it up and join the rest of the civilized world.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/59 "2021-04-02T16:48:22Z")

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Fun fact: On another thread, research has led me to the fact that over 35,000 tons of _Octopus vulgaris_ are harvested, gutted and put on tables each and every year.

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**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-has-a-point/939062/60 "2021-04-02T16:57:18Z")

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How many Pit threads does Squidbert have now? Not that they aren’t earned, but he seems to be making a push for the record.

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