Rush was right!

Okay, no, he wasn't. But the item here reminded me of his sexist claptrap from several years ago that some study had supposedly shown an inverse relationship between a woman's IQ and her bra size. (Go here and scroll down to the last item under "Brotherhood...and Sisterhood.") The study didn't exist of course, but that never stopped him before. Or since, for that matter.

Anyway, Australia's News.com for January 3 reported that

[a] high IQ is a hindrance for women wanting to get married, while it is an asset for men, according to a study by four British universities.

The study found the likelihood of marriage increased by 35 per cent for males for each 16-point increase in IQ.

But for females, there was a 40 per cent drop for each 16-point rise.

The findings, by the universities of Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, were published in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.

The study was based on the IQs of 900 males and females between their 10th and 40th birthdays.

Now, certainly one obvious way to interpret those results is that, despite what we tell ourselves, men are still put off by smart women; men still want someone not as bright as they are, perhaps because it's easier to dominate the relationship that way and because their underlying sexism won't let them admit that women can be as smart as - or even smarter than - they are. (Personally, I suspect that's part of the driving force behind the irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton.)

On the other hand, one radio guy tried to say it was because "a chap with a high IQ is going to get a demanding job that is going to take up a lot of his energy and time" - so when he gets home, hey, who wants to have to think or anything? So of course, it's obvious, in fact it's only natural, that "intelligent men often prefer a less brainy partner." (Well, okay, that's not really a different reason than the first one, is it?)

But interestingly, one observer had a different take:

Paul Brown, a psychologist and professor at Nottingham University, told the Sunday Times: "Women in their late 30s who have gone for careers after the first flush of university and who are among the brightest of their generation are finding that men are just not interesting enough."

In other words, guys, the deal is exactly what you've always feared: Let a woman get some education and she'll realize that actually you're quite boring.