For brains, anyway.
RICHMOND, Va. (June 17, 2005) – People with bigger brains are smarter than their smaller-brained counterparts, according to a study conducted by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher published in the journal “Intelligence.” ...“For all age and sex groups, it is now very clear that brain volume and intelligence are related,” said lead researcher Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D., an industrial and organizational psychologist who specializes in the study of intelligence and other predictors of job performance.
Well... duh? Big muscles mean more strength, so these results are pretty obvious. But then, mine is enormous.
Downside: can't wear hats.
Don't forget the gravitational pull issues, I've seen those satellites magically pulled toward your house!
"It's like Sputnik! Spheracle and pointy in parts."
--paraphrased quote from "So I Married and Axe Murderer"
Wait, what are we talking about again?
The Master's ginormous head of course.
Of course.
We're experiencing time dilation effects as a result of the nearby black hole: MW's enormous ego.
Just kidding. :)
Did you know, children's shoe size correlates with their IQ too?
Come on, they used children in their sample. Besides, none of the correlations were over 0.5, even when they separated off the kids. That's not a particularly strong correlation. Also, brain volume is not the same thing as brain capacity-- he fails to take into account the density of the brain, which might allow a lot of neurons to be packed into a tiny space. And one last point, correlation is not causation, which is why the shoe size tidbit above is a classic example used in statistics courses.
I'd be more convinced that brain volume is a major factor in intelligence if they showed that kids who receive treatments that artificially increase their brain volume actually are smarter.
WH: Correlations less than 0.5 aren't dignificant? You're the mathematician, but I get correlations in the 0.1 to 0.3 range in my experiments all the time that I think are significant. Hrm.
I'm a mathematician, not a statistician. Anyway, you'd think that if brain size were the sole determining factor, it'd get you a nice fat correlation.