Are golfers more intelligent than other athletes?

[PEZGolf]

My answer is "yes"----based on observations of athletes and golfers from the local level to the professional ranks----including interviews and writings. Also check out their college degrees.

[rkim291968]

I don't know about that.   I believe in the law of average.   There's nothing that says golfers are more intelligent than other athletes. 

[iacas]

Just now, rkim291968 said:

I don't know about that.   I believe in the law of average.   There's nothing that says golfers are more intelligent than other athletes. 

That's not what the law of averages means.

Do you think Harvard graduates are smarter than high-school dropouts? Back in the day, Mac users tended to be smarter and earned more money than Windows users.

[No Mulligans]

Golf is an expensive sport.  Could be on average they get better educational opportunities.  Also, could be on average they had better financial success which could have a correlation to intelligence.

[rkim291968]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

Do you think Harvard graduates are smarter than high-school dropouts?

What are you implying?   Are you saying golfers are better educated than say basketball players?   Fencers?   Soccer players?    Runners?     Intelligence does not necessarily mean educated, or being intellectual.   You are completely off base with your response to my post.   Intelligence don't discriminate against one set of athletes vs another.   BTW, this thread was not an intelligent one to begin with if I were to use the term correctly.  

 

Intelligence has been defined in many different ways including one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

You are completely off base with your response to my post.

No, I'm not.

6 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

Intelligence don't discriminate against one set of athletes vs another.

Intelligence may not discriminate against a sport, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen the other way around. People of higher intelligence are more or less likely to choose certain kinds of things.

I know what the definitions of "intelligence" are.

[Vinsk]

8 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

What are you implying?   Are you saying golfers are better educated than say basketball players?   Fencers?   Soccer players?    Runners?     Intelligence does not necessarily mean educated, or being intellectual.   You are completely off base with your response to my post.   Intelligence don't discriminate against one set of athletes vs another.   BTW, this thread was not an intelligent one to begin with if I were to use the term correctly.  

 

Intelligence has been defined in many different ways including one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving.

Actually Iacas is not off base in the least bit. You specifically stated the term "law of averages". It's not insulting or demeaning whatsoever to say that on average, NFL players do not have the intellect of professional golfers. On average this most certainly true.

How many wealthy professional golfers turn up bankrupt compared to wealthy NFL/NBA players? And the NFL/NBA guy made a hell of a lot more money than most the golfers did. How many golfers are arrested for DUI, Domestic violence, drug abuse, gun charges,. etc? Does it happen in the PGA, sure. But with the LAW OF AVERAGES the NFL by far exceeds the PGA. And yes, those are all crimes of ignorance.

[Golfingdad]

24 minutes ago, iacas said:

Do you think Harvard graduates are smarter than high-school dropouts?

No.**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**(I base that on the idea that Sir Richard Branson is a high school dropout and Ted Cruz is a Harvard Law graduate, and I just extrapolated from there. ;))

[PEZGolf]

PEZ SEZ----here is a follow-up question: using OB Keeler, Bernard Darwin, PG Wood house, and other golf journalists as a group, are golf writers better and more literate than other sportswriters? Take into consideration also the well-written autobiographies of Jones, Hagen, Sarazen, Palmer, and Nicklaus.

[rkim291968]

9 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

How many wealthy professional golfers turn up bankrupt compared to wealthy NFL/NBA players? And the NFL/NBA guy made a hell of a lot more money than most the golfers did. How many golfers are arrested for DUI, Domestic violence, drug abuse, gun charges,. etc? Does it happen in the PGA, sure. But with the LAW OF AVERAGES the NFL by far exceeds the PGA. And yes, those are all crimes of ignorance.

What does the above have to do with "intelligence?"   

Here's the question for you and others.   Do golfers become intelligent or they are born more intelligent than others?    Why not fencers, distance runners, equestrians (rich and educated!), etc?    

[iacas]

1 minute ago, rkim291968 said:

Here's the question for you and others. Do golfers become intelligent or they are born more intelligent than others? Why not fencers, distance runners, equestrians (rich and educated!), etc?    

That's not the question.

And, since I haven't even answered the question (too many undefined words, including which other athletes are we comparing to golfers?), please stop short of getting too uppity. I'm just pointing out that "law of averages" is not really a valid response.

[Patch]

I am going to say no, that golfers are not smarter than other atheletes from other sports.  I think no matter what the sport, there will always be smart ones, and not so smart ones involved. I'd even say this to be true in professional sports. 

All kinds of arguements can be made on this forum in favor of golfers, but these arguements don't wash well when compared to other sports and their players. 

Just for the heck of it, I googled "smartest athletes". In the first 10 listings there were no golfers listed. The NBA, NFL, and MLB had the most players listed. Go figure that one out. 

 

[PEZGolf]

9 minutes ago, Patch said:

I am going to say no, that golfers are not smarter than other atheletes from other sports.  I think no matter what the sport, there will always be smart ones, and not so smart ones involved. I'd even say this to be true in professional sports. 

All kinds of arguements can be made on this forum in favor of golfers, but these arguements don't wash well when compared to other sports and their players. 

Just for the heck of it, I googled "smartest athletes". In the first 10 listings there were no golfers listed. The NBA, NFL, and MLB had the most players listed. Go figure that one out. 

 

PEZ SEZ----I would like to see an itemized listing of all athletes, whether they graduated, and what their major was. How many took Sports Management or Marketing?

[rkim291968]

41 minutes ago, Patch said:

I am going to say no, that golfers are not smarter than other atheletes from other sports.  I think no matter what the sport, there will always be smart ones, and not so smart ones involved. I'd even say this to be true in professional sports. 

All kinds of arguements can be made on this forum in favor of golfers, but these arguements don't wash well when compared to other sports and their players. 

Just for the heck of it, I googled "smartest athletes". In the first 10 listings there were no golfers listed. The NBA, NFL, and MLB had the most players listed. Go figure that one out. 

 

+1.    This kind of thread just end up goading people into arguing over things that cannot be proven, not to mention self serving and childish.  

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, PEZGolf said:

PEZ SEZ----here is a follow-up question: using OB Keeler, Bernard Darwin, PG Wood house, and other golf journalists as a group, are golf writers better and more literate than other sportswriters? Take into consideration also the well-written autobiographies of Jones, Hagen, Sarazen, Palmer, and Nicklaus.

Yes, I think good golfers are smarter than the average athlete in other sports of equal playing ability. The reason is pretty simple, it does not ONLY depend upon strength, agility and flexibility.

 

1 hour ago, rkim291968 said:

What does the above have to do with "intelligence?"   

Here's the question for you and others.   Do golfers become intelligent or they are born more intelligent than others?    Why not fencers, distance runners, equestrians (rich and educated!), etc?    

Intelligence is used to decide how to make a shot, not just to execute it but to solve the problem before the execution of the shot, and I'm not convinced most other sports have that same dependency for performance?

 

1 hour ago, Patch said:

I am going to say no, that golfers are not smarter than other atheletes from other sports.  I think no matter what the sport, there will always be smart ones, and not so smart ones involved. I'd even say this to be true in professional sports. 

All kinds of arguements can be made on this forum in favor of golfers, but these arguements don't wash well when compared to other sports and their players. 

Just for the heck of it, I googled "smartest athletes". In the first 10 listings there were no golfers listed. The NBA, NFL, and MLB had the most players listed. Go figure that one out. 

 

The question is on average and not individually.

 

17 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

+1.    This kind of thread just end up goading people into arguing over things that cannot be proven, not to mention self serving and childish.  

Well here's a discussion. . .http://ask.metafilter.com/30486/Which-athletes-are-the-smartest

Good golfers are in my experience more intelligent.

 

 

[Patch]

47 minutes ago, PEZGolf said:

PEZ SEZ----I would like to see an itemized listing of all athletes, whether they graduated, and what their major was. How many took Sports Management or Marketing?

I don't think it would matter. My guess is the intelligence curve would be about the same through out all the sports. 

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, Patch said:

I don't think it would matter. My guess is the intelligence curve would be about the same through out all the sports. 

I would guess that the distribution would not reflect the general population, because athletes are chosen for their respective ability to perform a particular task and not to be all around good at everything.

[rkim291968]

12 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Intelligence is used to decide how to make a shot, not just to execute it but to solve the problem before the execution of the shot, and I'm not convinced most other sports have that same dependency for performance?
 

And other sports don't?   I think golfers need to stop this nonsense of  "we are holier than thou attitude."   Golf is not the hardest game around.  Golfers are not more intelligent than others.  I watched and played many different individual and team sports (boxing, soccer, basketball, ping pong, badminton, golf, bowling, ....).    I have seen no evidence that golfers are more intelligent than other athletes.   I've seen no evidence that it is the hardest game around (it just feels that way).  

Generalizing, stereotyping - that's what you are doing if you believe the nonsense.