"So when a drummer slips up, they're actually just matching the elemental beat of the world." As a keys guy, I sure wish I had an excuse like that. I've played with a couple of drummers who were really "elemental".

If they were really that intelligent, why can't they hold down a steady pizza delivery job for more than a month?
 
Did you hear the one about the bass player who locked his keys in the car?  It took over an hour to get the drummer out.
 
Personally, I keep a pair of drumsticks on the dash of my car so I can park in the handicapped spots.
 
What did the drummer get on his SAT's?  Drool.
 
But, what does it mean if the drool is coming out of the drummers mouth equally on both sides?  That the drum riser is level.
 
Etc., etc.

Now, just to be fair, I DO know some intelligent people that play drums (including some that post here), but to stay that playing drums will make you intelligent, well...
 

Everybody knows John was the smart one.

Well - Im not a nuerologist.. or a scientist, but I am a student.  My first instrument was the drums, also my college major, even though Im holding a guitar in that pic over there.
 
Id like to see the slipping up tempo - natural rythmns of our planet thing unpacked a little more as it is interesting.
 
One thing I want to point out here is that the articles listed above don't disclose much about the test subjects.  The level of development of someone who maxes out at 4 on the floor isnt the same as someone like simon phillips.
 
I will say, that without a doubt, playing, practicing drums, and working on 4 way co-ordination has physically evolved me in irreplaceable ways.  When you can get all 4 appendages in control, and in sync.. with music... its the coolest thing ever.   I would imagine that someone who has spent years finetuning 4 way co-ordination with a metronome would have incredible mental capacity... however... it would be something they developed through steady, meditative practice.
 
A band is only as good as the drummer.

Those of ewe who play six-stringed instruments probably already gnu this, but I Am alarmed about the revelation that guitarists are also psychic. Psychotic, sure. That's obvious. Psychic? If so, they hide it very well.
 
I mean, if they were, wouldn't they remember the set list? Wouldn't they know what random verse the singer accidentally started singing? Wouldn't they know where to load in, how to find the gig, or how to carry their own amp? At the very least, I would think they would realize the foolishness of standing too close to a crash cymbal just after telling the crowd another drummer joke. 

The only proof I need to provide that I'm NOT psychic (maybe they meant side-kick?) is that I spent $3,900 to go to Europe in 1981 instead of investing that money in Microsoft.

The intelligence of musicians in general is highly underated. 
 
They require some of the highest memory and motor function skills, as well as needing to be quick to learn new pieces. 
 
But then I have to try learning how to use recording software and realize that I must be talking crap because I'm freaking useless with it. How did I manage to self teach to grade 8+ piano and yet I struggle so much with learning how to use DAWs?
 
 

mikedocy
 
Harvard smarty-pants discovered that a drummer’s internal clock doesn’t move linearly like a real clock, but rather in waves.

So what happens to time when a drummers speed approaches that of light (such as Buddy Rich)?

Are the drums much harder than playing the timpani cos I used to play those in my uneee orchestra and found them easy thanks to my impeccable sense of rhythm from much study of Scott Joplin, but unfortunately Ive never got to play with a drum kit.