We all know alcohol impairs a person’s reasoning abilities. But in a study presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in August, researchers reported that booze also diminishes how smart others perceive us to be. In a series of six experiments, the investigators consistently found that participants rated people in pictures, videos and face-to-face encounters as less intelligent when they held or drank alcoholic beverages than when they drank nonalcoholic beverages or nothing at all. The “imbibing idiot bias,” as the researchers call it, persisted even when participants drank fake alcoholic beverages that did not interfere with their cognitive functioning. Most strikingly, in mock interviews volunteers judged job candidates as less intelligent when they ordered an alcoholic drink—even when the person interviewing them had done so first.
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20 Comments
Add CommentWhat is the most intelligent thing to order then?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about calling a new drink - the drink that only very intelligent people drink.
So I order. 'Barman - please may I have a drink that only very intelligent people drink please'.
Yes sir he shouts - 'Is there any particular vintage you require?'
Yes E=mc(2)
Oh sir - we don't hold by Einstein in here any more - this establishment only deals in classical mechanics.
'But Barman - Last time I came in here - Einstein was all the rage!'
Barman - 'Sorry sir but since the LHC european experiments - our thinking has changed - and there is conclusive proof from statistical mechanics that beer raises the average IQ by 40 points for every litre - averaged over a two week period period of consumption'
Hmm - that reasoning appears vague?
No sir one has to contextualise the results according to the statistical mechics of fuzzy logic'
'Well I guess I'm too stupid to drink in this establishment - that research reported in Sciam must be correct.
I bring my own thermos of filtered, hand-drawn spring water, which is still hard to drink with a dust mask on, but I'm out of the hiring loop anyway, apparently. Still, it's good to know SOMEONE is thinking about what an impression I'm making when I drink. We need more insight into the mildly obvious, things such as research done while drunk is less accurate than sober research. What if the researchers pretend to be drunk and are observed by volunteers who rate their research talents; then have the same researchers perform not acting drunk; and then finally the old baseline of "let's all get loaded for our baseline data group." This is the fun side of research for sure - is that MY tax dollar getting 'wasted', so-to-speak?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you drink enough, you don't care if you don't get the job.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDidn't I read about this a year ago? In that study people who ordered wine were perceived as more intelligent than those who ordered beer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne whisky, one bourbon an one beeeeeerrr ..Duh
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPotentially a funny joke, but particle physics is obviously not your thing. Very sloppy execution, maybe you should have used neuroscience references instead.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo - my problem is that I drink too much.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTry this ... drink one half of a bottle of whisky and say the joke in a Stephen Hawking voice.................its still not funny ................but you laugh anyway...........
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now thats just mean :-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'll tell you a true story - I used to work in research and my job was testing the decay of charge in semiconductor devices over time. The curves were always smooth, decaying in a nice exponential with time over a few hours.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever my boss sat me down one day and said 'Peter' = you seem to be measuring some strange effects in these materials you are testing. All the curves on some of these tests you are conducting produce a very characteristic jagged saw tooth decay over time. Wouldn't you expect a smooth exponential? Have you a theory about it?
'What do you think it could be?'
I looked quizically - and said 'Beats me''............He said' I've noticed too - that this material behaviour always appears on a Friday afternoon.
Then he said with smirk.
Have a good think about it.
And contemplate how many pints of cider you consume on the projects' Friday lunchtime get together at the pub.
An intelligent person is capable of foolish acts when inebriated, as most of us are aware. The media exaggerates and perpetrates this stereotype as well. So for a malfunctioning nervous system it would be guilty by association.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi think that's crazy for anyone to say such a thing ... i'm a drinker myself and i'm not a damn idiot, i'm actually a lawyer of 15yrs. and have a great income of money and i drink mostly everyday .. with that being said people how drink aren't idiot's ... (87.5 percent of people who drink are actually sucessful) soo this article can kiss my a** ya' digg .... and sense drinkers are idiot's then i guess most of the world is ... niggga
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYOU KNOW WHAT?THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A DRINKER BECAUSE RINKING SOMETIMES RELAXES PEOPLES MINDS AND MAKE THEM FEEL BETTER.DRINKING ALSO MAKE PEOPLE ACT CRAZY AND FORGET THINGS,BUT NOT ALL PEOPLE ACT THE SAME WHEN DRINKING.EVERYBODY DONT LIVE THEIR LIFESTYLE DIFFERENTLY,SOME SAY NO DRINING AND SOME SAY DRINKING IS APPROVED IN THEIR LIFE.EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT A DRINKER I SMOKE HEAVY WEED AND I THINK THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DRINKING.SO WHO EVER SAID PEOPLE THAT DRINK IS IDIOTS CAN LICK ASS BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DRINKING!!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyou know what i totaly agree
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthis is a very bad article ...... f*** they mean
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisREALY THEY GOT US FUCKED UPP ! WE SHOULD FIND THE PERSON THAT WROTE THIS SHIT HERE BECAUSE THIS IS STRAIGHT FOOLISHNESS ! WHEN I FIND THEM I AM GOING TO KILL THEY ASS ! :-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisand two shots of patron
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thislol i know that's right byt see i'm a lawyer of 15 yrs. i'm just hideing my identity but i drink heavy ... all day everyday
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRIKKUS SHUT YOUR ASS UP BECAUSE YOU CAN GET A FUCKING JOB YOU DUMMY !
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile there're certainly a lot of dumb drunkards out there, I've always figured most of the smartest people drink. Those with the sharpest minds need a little something to slow those minds down every once in a while (or even every day in some geniuses' cases) so they can relax.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlcohol is legal and cannabis is not for the same reason government wants full control over our educational system.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this