Email Worse for your IQ Than Pot, Says CNN

Eric Mack points to an article at CNN that postulates that email is worse for people’s IQ scores than smoking pot is. My favourite bullet from the article is this:

Nine out of 10 people thought colleagues who answered messages during face-to-face meetings were rude, while three out of 10 believed it was not only acceptable, but a sign of diligence and efficiency.

So this means that at least two people thought that it was rude if someone interrupts a face-to-face conversation to reply to an email, yet they believe it is a sign of diligence and efficiency. I’m not calling this statistic into question; I think it’s accurate. I think we are all developing double standards with respect to politeness and respect, and somehow are able to take no notice of the inherent conflict we force ourselves to live with.

Thanks to (who else) Marc for pointing out the link.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 25th, 2005 and is filed under Email. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

#1 by bw at April 25th, 2005

Here here… I would agree with the rudeness factor 10 out of 10. I think MY iq drops when other people respond to personal communcation devices (especially cel phones) at inappropriate times …such as meetings… or (this one really bugs me) while jay-walking in front of my car!

All of these fractional statistics reminds me of a ‘deep thought’ I heard on the radio the other day:
“A recent poll revealed that 5 out of 4 people have trouble with fractions.”

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#2 by Norman Engh at January 26th, 2006

Being a retired military man, I am compelled to write you asking if I am the only person that feels like Ramsey Clark is a “Traitor” to this fine Country the USA.

#3 by Jason at January 26th, 2006

Hi Norman,

I’m not sure exactly why you chose to post that comment here, other than that I share the same last name with Ramsey Clark (although we spell it differently). I’m also a Canadian, and have to admit that I had to look up the name Ramsey Clark on Google to figure out who you were talking about. I think maybe you found the wrong Jason Clarke – there’s another one at http://www.jasonclarke.org who is heavily involved in US politics.

#4 by marijuana forum at November 2nd, 2006

Interesting, I will keep this in mind for the next job interview. I wonder if there is a way too tell who will respond which way…perhaps by their style of “communication accessory”