Is the average prius driver smarter than the average American ?

[biggus]

My respect for Americans has shot up since joining Priuschat.

[freshmtt]

Why Thank You Biggus,, I will have to give some credit to my smartness to the Irish,,, experiencing what I did in Ireland this past March really pushed me towards the Hybrid.

[Ichiro]

No, but they are considerably more smug and self-righteous

[MagneticGrayIndy]

lol... wow. I'm not sure I even SHOULD respond to this one but ok, here goes. Often, when I'm out of the country or talking to a foreigner here.. they are suprised if I speak their/another language, show any knowledge of history or state that I don't like our current politics in any way.

Americans get a bad rap, and by looking at our pop culture, it's pretty easy to see why. The fact that we CHOOSE to buy and drive so many enormous SUV's astounds the populace of other countries for example. But hey.. even I am sometimes amazed at how many intelligent, independent and cultured Americans there really are! Pretty much all the friends I've chose to surround myself are this way.

America and Americans have some amazing attributes! They just sometimes get lost under the wheels of a Ford Expedition or hidden behind the headlines of another Britney/Lindsey/Paris nightmare!

[jammin012]

We talked about this at work today, not really who's smarter but killing all the stupid people.

Depends on what the standard of smartness is, what the standard for average is and who's going to get to judge. My brother couldn't change the oil in his car but give him a couple chemicals and a test tube and he can do about anything.

When the time came he could probably take the oil and reconstitute it and make it even better than before, but it's physically getting the oil out of the motor that he has a problem with. Monkey and a football comes to mind. Pretty funny to watch.... if it's not your car.

[biggus]

If the Gas price changes your driving habits so much, just wait till you see how people start to look at long commutes and sprawling communities. In europe we tended to squash things together and around old settlements sometimes because of Geography.
Hi Gas prices may change the whole way of current American life. Here in europe we have had high fuel prices for years because of taxation. This has influenced where we live ,what we drive ,how we spend our free time ,where we go to college etc etc.
If you've sold your SUV well done but be ready for more radical changes to come in everything you do including where you live and what you work at.
Personally i think Oil price will fall , but roll out the new way of thinking USA.

Well done to all at prius chat and i love the humour too !

[Froley1]

I think our society has never been what might be called intelligent
we've had always had really smart, creative people within it who have done great things but---my personal belief is that overall the true thinking power of our society dial is set right about the Homer Simpson level.

Individuals who purchased a Prius prior to the recent gasoline unpleasantness display one of the fundamental signs of intelligence
action based on mental projection of the future events.
just my thoughts
Froley

[chogan2]

Originally Posted by biggus

My respect for Americans has shot up since joining Priuschat.

Is the average Prius driver smarter than the average American? Without a doubt. And you get a smarter-than-average Prius driver writing here in Priuschat.

There are shreds of evidence to support that first statement, including systematic surveys of US drivers and ad-hoc marketing surveys. Historically, Prius drivers tended to be smarter and wealthier and older than the US average.

With regard to the postings here, it's a matter of self-selection/crowd behavior or what economists call Tiebout goods, which might be termed "birds of a feather flock together" by others. My observation is that there are enough smart correspondents here that the dummies/flamers don't get any traction (plus the moderators have good judgment). So the community as a whole tends to repel the ignorant. What a plus. Really, some sociologists ought to be studying us.

Couldn't agree more on your comment on our way of life. As was also stated in the NY Times by my favorite (favourite?) economist, Paul Krugman.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/op...=1&oref=slogin

Now, if you want to see the toxic interchange between the US housing bubble and the new energy reality, I suggest you take a glance at the this site, and check out the "Top Discounts" column, with the 70+% housing price declines on selected properties on Manassas and other exurb Washington DC communities. (That has relevance to me as I grew up I in Manassas).

Northern Virginia Housing Bubble Fallout

And as well-documented here and elsewhere, surprise surprise, nobody wants low-mpg vehicles either. Prices for low-efficiency used vehicles have plunged. So exurb housing and inefficient commuters cars are both going for large discounts relative to historical prices. And that's a good thing, shows that the market is working.

The only surprise is the extent to which the prices have changed on those long-lived (capital) goods. People may talk about the "invisible hand" of economics, gently guiding resources toward their most productive use through the use of incentives. But I also think of the "invisible foot" of economics, kicking the stupidest consumers in the behind for their bad decisions, and making them change through sheer economic pain. The price changes at issue have been brutal. So, at the moment, due to the sharp runup in oil and gasoline prices, I'd say we're more in the "invisible foot" regime right now.

And, well, shooting yourself in the foot is supposed to hurt, that's how the dumb ones figure out not to do that.

So, as an economist, this has all the earmarks of having gone through a true bubble, into a real (forgive the phrase) paradigm shift. You absolutely would not believe the size and vulgarity of the average house built in Northern Virginia (Washington suburbs) in the last three years. What an incredible mis-allocation of real capital -- with 20-20 hindsight. We are in no way set up for Europeanization. Nobody here has the slightest clue what's going to happen next. But we have to have faith the even the dumbest of us will eventually sort things out.

[Danny]

According to this, PriusChat members at least are higher educated than the average person.

priuschat.com (rank 14,478) - Web Site Audience Profiles from Quantcast

Whether that means we're smarter is probably up for argument.

[pardreamer]

Wow, more Asian Americans than White. Asians being only about 5 percent of US population.

Originally Posted by Danny

According to this, PriusChat members at least are higher educated than the average person.

priuschat.com (rank 14,478) - Web Site Audience Profiles from Quantcast

Whether that means we're smarter is probably up for argument.