On Ethnicity and intelligence- The case of Ashkenazi Jews

The Economist ^ | 02 june 2005 | The Economist

[voletti]

THE idea that some ethnic groups may, on average, be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name. But Gregory Cochran, a noted scientific iconoclast, is prepared to say it anyway. He is that rare bird, a scientist who works independently of any institution. Even he, however, might tremble at the thought of what he is about to do. Together with Jason Hardy and Henry Harpending, of the University of Utah, he is publishing, in a forthcoming edition of the Journal of Biosocial Science, a paper which not only suggests that one group of humanity is more intelligent than the others, but explains the process that has brought this about. The group in question are Ashkenazi Jews. The process is natural selection. Ashkenazim generally do well in IQ tests, scoring 12-15 points above the mean value of 100, and have contributed disproportionately to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the careers of Freud, Einstein and Mahler, pictured above, affirm. They also suffer more often than most people from a number of nasty genetic diseases, such as Tay-Sachs and breast cancer. These facts, however, have previously been thought unrelated. The former has been put down to social effects, such as a strong tradition of valuing education. The latter was seen as a consequence of genetic isolation. Even now, Ashkenazim tend to marry among themselves. In the past they did so almost exclusively.

[Neanderthal]

"If it's OKAY to say that certain races/ethnicities are superior in athletic endeavors (observe the dominant race in the NBA, for example)"

It is not OK to say this. The PC crowd attributes this skill to poverty (other sports require expensive equipment and facilities). Bball requires only a ball and a hoop nailed to a wall somewhere in the alley is their explanation.

[ScreamingFist]

Jews do well academically because of their physical capacity? Care to restate your position without bending over backwards to avoid obvious ethnic/racial truisms?

Sure, Jews do well because of the drive ,the moral support and their academic opportunities, like I said. Any other questions?

[JAWs]

When compared to the proportion of the population (a quarter of a percent of the world population and two percent of the US population) the number of Jewish scientists is astounding. Here is a complete list of all Jewish science Nobelists.

Chemistry:
• 1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
• 1906 - Henri Moissan
• 1910 - Otto Wallach
• 1915 - Richard Willstaetter
• 1918 - Fritz Haber
• 1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
• 1961 - Melvin Calvin
• 1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
• 1972 - William Howard Stein
• 1977 - Ilya Prigogine
• 1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
• 1980 - Paul Berg
• 1980 - Walter Gilbert
• 1981 - Roald Hoffmann
• 1982 - Aaron Klug
• 1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
• 1985 - Jerome Karle
• 1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
• 1988 - Robert Huber
• 1989 - Sidney Altman
• 1992 - Rudolph Marcus
• 2000 - Alan J. Heeger
  Medicine:
• 1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
• 1908 - Paul Erlich
• 1914 - Robert Barany
• 1922 - Otto Meyerhof
• 1930 - Karl Landsteiner
• 1931 - Otto Warburg
• 1936 - Otto Loewi
• 1944 - Joseph Erlanger
• 1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
• 1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
• 1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
• 1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
• 1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
• 1953 - Hans Krebs
• 1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
• 1958 - Joshua Lederberg
• 1959 - Arthur Kornberg
• 1964 - Konrad Bloch
• 1965 - Francois Jacob
• 1965 - Andre Lwoff
• 1967 - George Wald
• 1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
• 1969 - Salvador Luria
• 1970 - Julius Axelrod
• 1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
• 1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
• 1975 - Howard Martin Temin
• 1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
• 1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
• 1978 - Daniel Nathans
• 1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
• 1984 - Cesar Milstein
• 1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
• 1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
• 1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
• 1988 - Gertrude Elion
• 1989 - Harold Varmus
• 1991 - Erwin Neher
• 1991 - Bert Sakmann
• 1993 - Richard J. Roberts
• 1993 - Phillip Sharp
• 1994 - Alfred Gilman
• 1995 - Edward B. Lewis
  Physics:
• 1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson (First American science Nobelist)
• 1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
• 1921 - Albert Einstein
• 1922 - Niels Bohr
• 1925 - James Franck
• 1925 - Gustav Hertz
• 1943 - Gustav Stern
• 1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
• 1952 - Felix Bloch
• 1954 - Max Born
• 1958 - Igor Tamm
• 1959 - Emilio Segre
• 1960 - Donald A. Glaser
• 1961 - Robert Hofstadter
• 1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
• 1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
• 1965 - Julian Schwinger
• 1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
• 1971 - Dennis Gabor
• 1973 - Brian David Josephson
• 1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
• 1976 - Burton Richter
• 1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
• 1978 - Peter L Kapitza
• 1979 - Stephen Weinberg
• 1979 - Sheldon Glashow
• 1988 - Leon Lederman
• 1988 - Melvin Schwartz
• 1988 - Jack Steinberger
• 1990 - Jerome Friedman
• 1995 - Martin Perl

[Doodle]

Aw cmon. Let's not beat around the bush.

Jews do well academically because, on average, they are smarter than other ethnic groups.

Why? Because it's in their genes.

Why is it in their genes? Because of evolution (natural selection)

[JAWs]

Sure, Jews do well because of the drive ,the moral support and their academic opportunities, like I said. Any other questions?

How about Jews do well because of a cultural imperatives which stress learning and education and because our mothers will put us on such a guilt trip if we don't do well! OY!

[JAWs]

While I believe in culture over race (usually) I will give you support for your thesis. In Ashkenazim communities, the brightest Yeshiva students were, in order so they could continue their studies, often married at a young age to the daughters of wealthy members of their community. So they have the reproductive advantage of starting generally younger and material advantages for their progeny.

[iconoclast]

Any other questions?

Just the obvious one.

You equate physical with mental capacity?

[ScreamingFist]

How about Jews do well because of a cultural imperatives which stress learning and education and because our mothers will put us on such a guilt trip if we don't do well! OY!

Thanks FRiend, LOL.

[ScreamingFist]

You equate physical with mental capacity?

No, I think you can run track and be a genius. Do you equate mental capacity with Jewish ancestory?

[Alouette]

So then how does one explain the suicidal stupidity of the Israeli secular leftists, overwhelmingly Ashkenazi? Inbreeding until they all became profoundly retarded?

But religious Jews do not suffer from this plight.

The degrading factor is: SOCIALISM.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[mikegi]

When compared to the proportion of the population (a quarter of a percent of the world population and two percent of the US population) the number of Jewish scientists is astounding.

The Nobel Prize is like People magazine for science.

[mgist]

I have a theory that Americans are more assertive and braver than those in the rest of the world because of natural selection. We are a nation of immigrants, many of which have risked their lives to start a new life here. That takes guts. We are a special breed.

[hlmencken3]

Unfortunately for the thesis, Ashkenazi Jews have very little genetic difference from other Jews.

Similar 'tests' done in the Golden Age of Muslim Spain would almost certainly have shown Sefardic Jews to be smart, accomplished folks, with few Ashkenazis on 'the list'.

[Maceman]

Oh well, as Ayn Rand (another Ashkenazi Jew) said: "An idiot is an idiot no matter how many geniuses his race has produced, and a genius is a genius no matter how many idiots his race has produced."

[umgud]

What impact on the world would Jews have had if millions had not died at the hands of Hitler and Stalin?

[MarkL]

Well, either I'm the exception that proves the rule, or gypsies switched me in the hospital just after I was born.

Last weekend, I went to a family Bar Mitzva in St Louis, and seeing everyone in the family, and seeing how they're doing in their careers, I realize that I'm the family "dim bulb."

Let's see... The parents of the Bar Mitzva boy are an anesthesiologist and an occupational therapist (with a doctoral degree).

One cousin's got a BSEE and MSEE from Michigan, and he works for AMD.

His sister married a guy who's got a PHd in engineering (I don't remember which discipline) from MIT. Oh, and they live in Israel.

I've got another pair of cousins, brother and sister, who were born a year apart. They took their SATs a year apart too, and both got perfect scores. He's graduating from Dartmouth with honors, and she's in grad school. Political science at Georgetown.

I've got another cousin who's at Stanford... And a 20 year old cousin who's just finished her first year in law school, at Columbia University!

I feel like such a slacker!

Mark

[iconoclast]

Do you equate mental capacity with Jewish ancestory?

Sorry.

Thought I had made that crystal clear.

[MarkL]

So if I say that those of African descent are superior in basketball-type sports and track/running events, it's cool

No, just ask Jimmy the Greek, or Al Campanis!

Mark

[sheik yerbouty]

ROFL!

[Polybius]

In fact, 1/3 of all American Jews are married to non-Jews, mostly Christians.

See? That means that 2/3s of all American Jews are married to other Jews. In other words, those who marry other Ashkenazim outnumber the intermarriers by a factor of two to one.

In 1990, the intermarriage rate was 52%.

The Factors Behind the 52% Intermarriage Rate