A Congressional Intelligence Test: Pointless Though It May Be

With the advancements that we have made in cognitive sciences, we are now able to measure the intelligence level of our Congressional representatives. Prior to the enhancements that increased testing measurement sensitivities, the best available evidence was that there was no Congressional intelligence. But now we know, that small as it may be, at the core of their being is a sufficient intellectual capacity to do more than just babble scripted passages about some core constituency group’s ideological on-button. They may indeed be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. So further investigations in Congressional intelligence will be of interest to see if they are ever able to achieve any decision making performance that is above that of throwing dice or following the direction of the political winds of the moment.

Our data collection opportunity is at a high point with the budget debacle. The situation provides a number of assessment points where the demonstration of intelligence becomes possible to detect. I don’t want to raise expectations so it will be best if you don’t expect much here. Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat (or even an Independent), a conservative or left/right tilting wacko, one of the old guard or the new insurgent wannabes (e.g., a Tea Party politico) the chance that your favorite or preferred representative would show any sign of intelligence is extremely rare and more likely a random event.

Let’s examine some of the most recent sample data.

In negotiations on how much to cut neither the Democratic side nor the Republican side can actually identify the amount of cutting that they have talked about and more specifically agreed to. They can remember their starting points which were between a $30B low to a $61B high.

Analysis: Their inability to comprehend the meaning of numbers is not indicative of any basic abstraction skills. By lacking to compensate for information retention issues and compensating by seeking a recording or memory assisting aid (like writing things down) show a deficiency in planning and coping skills. In situations where the negotiating group may have reached a consensus/decision, failure to document the outcome given their abysmal memory equates to there being no evidence that they have ever achieved an actual decision, and so we have no evidence of executive function.

General conclusion: No sign of intelligence.

Attention to goal: Given the task of cutting the budget, there is significant evidence that the experiments’ participants are unable to retain that goal in their mental processes during their problem solving efforts. Congress seems confused by whether they should cut from mandatory or discretionary spending programs, there are even participants who diverge into budget padding or increases as part of their reduction seeking activities. This latter behavior is either a severe impairment of their comprehension of the task or it represents search behavior that employs random actions rather than guided thought processes. Similarly, various members are unable to recognize the most obvious areas to find a solution over areas with extremely little benefit or opportunity.

General conclusion: No sign of intelligence. A possibility of irrational dysfunction as a primary behavior pattern.

Social Awareness capacity as a measure of intelligence is assessable in a number of areas, one particularly notable concerns self-interest at the expense of group-interest. When attempting to handle the budget crisis problem, group members are interjecting extraneous conditions and requirements for the group to deal with that both distract from the central task and which serve not a common interest for the group nor the task, but are an attempt to gain a self-serving advantage at the expense of the group. This is a basic hind-brain behavior that seeks only to satisfy the self. That it creates an barrier to achieving the actual goal of the group, shows a diminished ability to see the whole when a self-interest object seems available.

General conclusion: A kind of animal intelligence is present, but the social value level of intelligence is missing. No credible human intelligence observed.

Panic and Attack Response: With the group’s efforts failing to find a path to their goal, their emotional brain centers appear to come into action. Sensing the group tension from perceived failure, the members begin to lash out at any member that seems different. Family bond relationships in the group begin to take priority over any other goal, and defensive postures are taken. Eventually under the stresses and continued fear and anxiety from the situation being unresolved, some member initiate attack responses. At this point the budget problem becomes irrelevant.

General conclusion: Inability to control primitive behavior, no evidence of advanced thinking or ego control.

So we have our rats in their budget maze, running around and looking for an all-or-none solution to the budget problem that must meet their expectations, where the all-or-none condition is in fact a condition that guarantees only failure.

In summary, we have additional evidence that Congress is basically devoid of intelligent behavior.

It may occur to the reader that a study correlating the level of intelligence in Congress with that of the electorate might provide informative insight into the source of the problem. Well, that for a later time.