# Sarah Palin's Intelligence Level **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 10, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667 "2010-04-10T20:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/1 "2010-04-10T20:41:13Z")
Brought from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=559138). > [@Your score for the Obama-Palin nuclear debate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-score-for-the-obama-palin-nuclear-debate/535599/28): > > No joke. McCain staffers said they discovered during her debate prep that she literally did not know that North and South Korea were separate countries. She showed an appalling ignorance of the most basic geography and history in general. She also thought that Africa was a country, did not understand the basic structure of the federal government (they had to start with explaining “three branches” like it was a middle school social studies class), and thought that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 (no kidding, she really thought we’d been attacked by Iraq and thought that was why we invaded it). She also didn’t care that she didn’t know these things and refused to be tutored on them. > [@Your score for the Obama-Palin nuclear debate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-score-for-the-obama-palin-nuclear-debate/535599/38): > > It’s really not accurate to say that she didn’t know NK and SK were different countries. Sounds like she didn’t know how they ended up being different countries. > [@Your score for the Obama-Palin nuclear debate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-score-for-the-obama-palin-nuclear-debate/535599/49): > > Actually, that one wasn’t true. While there are many many examples of Sarah Palin running her mouth and saying idiotic things, the “she thought Africa was a country” meme was actually a hoax. Even the New York Times admitted it. > > [Random Jottings: The Africa thing was a hoax...](http://www.randomjottings.net/archives/003631.html) > > Still, this doesn’t change the fact that she is still either A) amazingly stupid, or B) willing to say things she knows are clearly un-true in order to score political points. Take your pick. What stupid shit has she said/done? What is just hype? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/2 "2010-04-10T20:46:22Z")
This has nothing to do with intelligence. Sarah Palin was intelligent enough to realize she was never going to be a serious candidate for any elected office and she needed to milk as much money from the mouthbreathers who idolize her before she stopped being popular. She’s done very good for herself since she got picked for VP, this shows that she does have plenty of intelligence. She is ignorant and uninformed and lacks any desire to change, whether this is because she truly doesn’t care or because she realizes her fans prefer her this way i wouldn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/3 "2010-04-10T20:46:50Z")
If you take the time to look up her interviews with the media during the campaign and couple that with what she has said in public fora, then bounce that off Snopes or some other reliable debunker, you’ll have your answer. I’m not sure anybody is willing to spend that much time to do the searching for you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/4 "2010-04-10T20:54:30Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > What stupid shit has she said/done? What is just hype? For me, it’s more how she has demonstrated a significant lack of knowledge, rather than a whole bunch of things she said. In the now famous Curic interview, her utter lack of knowledge of SCOTUS cases (other than _Roe_) comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/5 "2010-04-10T21:46:18Z")
One thing that she’s doing now which is totally fucking brilliant is she has figured out a way to get (well) paid to run for the White House. She’s making big bucks from Fox, running around to every place where hillbillies congregate and making demagogic speeches to fawning audiences getting her “message” out. Not that there’s any substance to it, but she’s in the public eye and we’re all talking about her and gnashing our teeth and for gawd knows what reason\* all of the “Liberal” media keep her in the limelight. Now whether she actually came up with this, who knows, but even if she doesn’t get elected she’ll get the pimp-my-candidate treatment for at least the next few years. \*I’m guessing it sells. Liberal my ass; more like media-whores. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/6 "2010-04-10T22:15:33Z")
Sometimes things are nothing more than what they seem. She’s a lucky idiot who reflects the increasing stupidity of our country/world’s population. . ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/7 "2010-04-10T22:22:58Z")
I think she did it all so that she can be on Dancing with the Stars, eventually. Then, hey, maybe a reality show. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/8 "2010-04-10T22:45:36Z")
I don’t think she’s stupid. I just think she has complete disinterest in anything that exists outside her own head. She does appear to have a natural talent for demagoguery, and she seems to be satisfied that that is all she needs for her purposes. Whatever they are. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/9 "2010-04-10T23:39:10Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > This has nothing to do with intelligence. Sarah Palin was intelligent enough to realize she was never going to be a serious candidate for any elected office and she needed to milk as much money from the mouthbreathers who idolize her before she stopped being popular. She’s done very good for herself since she got picked for VP, this shows that she does have plenty of intelligence. She is ignorant and uninformed and lacks any desire to change, whether this is because she truly doesn’t care or because she realizes her fans prefer her this way i wouldn’t know. Disclaimer: I’m recovering from a long-lasting conviction that most people who appear stupid are just lazy. However, I think that’s certainly true of Palin. I can’t believe anyone who’s spared a minute or two to think can spout the kind of idiocy that she does sincerely. She’s projecting everything that George W is caricatured to be: intellectually lazy, warmongering, religiously fanatic, obsessed with perceived enemies and a fake “person of the people”. But with GW I generally had the sense he usually believed his rhetoric, even when he should have known he was probably mistaken. With Palin I’m at least 90% sure she’s not even lying, since she doesn’t care to know anything about anything - she’s just saying whatever it takes to make herself popular. The following quote concerning bullshit was posted recently on this board and I think it applies to Palin quite well: > [@Harry Frankfurt/Wikipedia](#): > > It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction. A person who lies is thereby responding to the truth, and he is to that extent respectful of it. When an honest man speaks, he says only what he believes to be true; and for the liar, it is correspondingly indispensable that he considers his statements to be false. For the bullshitter, however, all these bets are off: he is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all, as the eyes of the honest man and of the liar are, except insofar as they may be pertinent to his interest in getting away with what he says. He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose. Apply to FOX News in general if you wish. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/10 "2010-04-11T00:06:02Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I don’t think she’s stupid. I just think she has complete disinterest in anything that exists outside her own head. > > She does appear to have a natural talent for demagoguery, and she seems to be satisfied that that is all she needs for her purposes. Whatever they are. 1. Exactly. 2. To make money. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/11 "2010-04-11T00:31:53Z")
Don’t confuse a lack of knowledge with a lack of intelligence. Sarah seems to have almost a natural gift for appealing to subliminal instincts in mob mentality. That gift is a kind of intelligence. It survives, even thrives, in ignorance. Look at the crowds cheering Palin-Bachman the last few days. (Speaking of Armageddon!) Now the question is how much of a mob will the conservative elements become over the next two and a half years? Will this insanity burn itself out? As for Sarah Palin’s actual I.Q., I would guess it to be average – probably about 8-10 points lower than George Bush’s real I.Q. score. That’s an educated guess from someone who took lots of graduate educational psychology courses, but is not an expert in the field. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/12 "2010-04-11T00:47:54Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Don’t confuse a lack of knowledge with a lack of intelligence. Sarah seems to have almost a natural gift for appealing to subliminal instincts in mob mentality. That gift is a kind of intelligence. It survives, even thrives, in ignorance. Look at the crowds cheering Palin-Bachman the last few days. (Speaking of Armageddon!). She is a master of the sound bite such as “Hows that hopey-changey thing working out” and “death panels”. She not unintelligent, she’s just uninformed. ETA: In case it wasn’t clear, I am agreeing with you. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/13 "2010-04-11T00:54:34Z")
She probably has a certain cunning about her… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/14 "2010-04-11T00:59:45Z")
I don’t think she’s very bright, but even intelligent people sometimes say stupid things…you know, like that there are [57 states](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/57states.asp). Palin’s IQ is probably about average or maybe a handful of points above, but we’re used to politicians being smarter than that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/15 "2010-04-11T01:17:10Z")
Palin’s IQ is well below the average for elected politicians. The “57 states” thing is not a valid example of saying sonmething stupid. It’s a slip of the tonhue. Obama didn’t actually THINK therew ere 57 states. Palin actually BELIEVED Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. She believes in the rapture, and thinks that Alaska will be a refuge for the “left behind” (not making that up, she actually said it). She’s afraid of witches. She thinks that people sued to ride around on dinosaurs. She’s a moron. The arguemnt that most other Americans are morons too, while true, is not exactly a defense. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/16 "2010-04-11T01:23:44Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > She is ignorant and uninformed and lacks any desire to change, Much like George W Bush, she is both ignorant AND arrogant which is a pretty sure-fire recipie for a shitty person, never mind a political leader… I will say this once again—FUCK YOU JOHN McCAIN, for subjecting the American people to this ignorant, entitled, hypocritical CUNT!!! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/17 "2010-04-11T02:05:52Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > I think she did it all so that she can be on **Dancing with the Stars,** eventually. Then, hey, maybe a reality show. > > Tris _Dancing with Wolves._ Then _Shooting My Dance Partner._ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/18 "2010-04-11T02:11:15Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I don’t think she’s stupid. I just think she has complete disinterest in anything that exists outside her own head. > > She does appear to have a natural talent for demagoguery, and she seems to be satisfied that that is all she needs for her purposes. Whatever they are. She does not appear to be even marginally educable on the essential issues surrounding her own platform, and her “natural talent for demagoguery” appears to be largely based upon repeating preprocessed sound bites and being quite decorative in a field where most female candidates look like they’ve been overstewed in the Crock Pot. (So do many of the men, but that generally reads as “distinguished” even though most of them are about as far from this label as Benny Hill is from astute social commentary.) She’s okay when she is parroting the readily digestible slogans that feed her base, but whenever she diverges from the script she displays the same kind of inability to improvise and cope with even simple challenges that caused Chevy Chase to go belly side up behind the talk show desk. Even if she were intelligent in some fashion (and for all I know, she may do the NY Times Saturday Edition crossword in under thirty minutes), this alone should disqualify her from being a viable candidate for executive office; it’s the President’s job to speak off the cuff to dozens or hundreds of people a day, and make tough decisions on the fly with limited guidance. What is really ludicrous is that it is often difficult on first glance to make any distinction between Sarah Palin speaking normally and Tina Fey parodying Sarah Palin. Didn’t the GOP get enough of this kind of skewering with Dan Quayle? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/19 "2010-04-11T02:26:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > She thinks that people sued to ride around on dinosaurs. Is this true, or am I misunderstanding hyperbole? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667/20 "2010-04-11T02:47:42Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Is this true, or am I misunderstanding hyperbole? With the right lawyer, you can sue anybody over anything. Larry H. Parker will get you $3 million for your allosaurus accident! Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palins-intelligence-level/535667.md?page=2)