Posted on 06/02/2005 4:00:59 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
There may be other factors at work. 'Intelligence' cannot be measured in isolation--it is necessary to test mental skills that to some extent can be improved by practice and study. In a culture that emphasizes education, this may be a widespread phenomenon.
Makes sense to me...that alone won't impress my wife, however.
Here in the USA, this is simply not true. Jews (and the preponderance of American Jews are Ashkenazim) in the US are intermarrying at an alarming rate. In fact, 1/3 of all American Jews are married to non-Jews, mostly Christians.
bump
Are you saying that's a bad thing?
If it's OKAY to say that certain races/ethnicities are superior in athletic endeavors (observe the dominant race in the NBA, for example) why is it forbidden to say that certain races/ethncities are superior in academic or intelligence endeavors?
Interesting that such a small population should have such a great impact on the course of Western Civilization.
Or could it be that the jewish scientists mentioned have a better PR campaign behind their popularity? How about Faraday, Maxwell, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Heaviside, Fitzgerald, and Newton?
Actually, your own cited statistic supports his thesis.
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.
Not to be overly picky, but what do you mean by, "alarming rate"?
For example, the ones who were smart enough to get the hell out of Germany when Hitler came to power.
Because if you say that, the inescapable conclusion is that other races or ethnicities are correspondingly inferior to the superior ones...and that conclusion, of racial inferiority, will get you labeled a racist Nazi Klansman bigot eugenicist faster than you can say "Margaret Sanger."
I see. Education opportunities, family ties and religious and moral values have nothing to do with the formula. I call B.S.
Okay - makes perfect sense.
Yeah, that's it. That's what happened to the guys who wrote The Bell Curve.
And the result?
Einsteins ......... 0.
Hollywood scum ... infinite.
Frankly yes. Were the German's "master race" superior because they said so? No. African Americans excel in sports because they have the physical capacity ,the drive and the moral support to accomplish their goals. Just like Jewish academics.
If we want children raised Jewish, yes.
Jews do well academically because of their physical capacity?
Care to restate your position without bending over backwards to avoid obvious ethnic/racial truisms?
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