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 ...
Not soooo sure.
While there is a strong tendency for secular Jews to assimilate, The orthodox lose a LOT of their people to Conservative Judaism, who in turn, lose a lot to Reform Judaism, who in turn lose a lot to full-blown secularism, who then assimilate.
Malcom Stern ( I think I have the right guy ) has spent his life doing population studies of American Jews and claimed that if there had been no assimilation and no intermarriage, there would be 40 million Jews in America.
I'm not Jewish, but one of the things that astonishes me is how many non-Jewish Americans will tell you they have a Jewish grandparent or great grandparent.
I honestly believe this is one of several motors driving the Americans' friendship with Israel and generally lower levels of anti-Semitism (compared to the rest of this nutty world). It's hard to sign on to the idea that the Jews are an "accursed race" if your own relatives are from the Jews.
Shame they can't give a Nobel Prize to the Irishman who invented whiskey....after all, as every good Irishman (like me) knows, if it weren't for whiskey, the Irish would rule the world! ;^)
And, you are a "sensitive", "modern", brainwashed, closed minded idiot.
Beats blaming Oliver Cromwell!
My vote would have gone to Crick and Watson
THE MORE GENETIC DIVERSITY, THE MERRIER
Unlike Feynman , Newton or Hawking, Einstein married his Cousin. Freud as it turned out was too smart for his own good as well as those unfortunates who embraced his theories. Psychoanalysis did not work for Woody Allen or for the ditzy Goldie Hahn whose self described tribe is Jewish but she now practices Buddhism and calls it Jewbu.
This article bears out the understanding that Jewish groups remained largely closed and did not assimilate genetically with Gentile populations.
Personal belief- this disparity accounts for major Jewish intellectual contributions to Western Civilizations as well as aberrant intellectual ideas such as Marxism and Multiculturalism as first developed by the Frankfurt School. WADR
Mahler?
I would be more interested in yours.
Gave yoirself away. Seperatism has hurt Jews and Gentiles alike.
I haven't hunted for almost 50 years. ;o)
I totally agree.
But that doesn't dictate my views on foreign policy.
That may be, but vanity is considered the worst of the Cardinal sins. It matures into envy, also a Cardinal sin, and then makes a bee line into leftist politics.
Do black people go around beating their chests proclaiming they are God's Athletes?
Max- as I understand it Jews would suffer no fools amoungst themselves and there was harsh selection pressures even amoungst themselves.
Hey, there's always differences of opinion! ;o)
Easy.
Just go to my homepage and click on forum!
Yes, they are. And you know what? Their "culture" isn't technological in the least. They're best known for weaving beautiful rugs.
IQ tests can be given to people who are nonverbal, to people who can't function at all. The tests are "normed" so that cultural and environmental factors don't really play much of a role in determining the outcome.
Heck, Eskimos score very high on tests involving visual-spatial ability. No one knows why, really. Some suspect it may have something to do with all of the snow they've been staring at for thousands of years. :)
Are you saying that's a bad thing?
If we want children raised Jewish, yes.
Ah we get to the heart of the matter- Judaism is not so much a religion as an ethnic group with evolutionary goals???
Well, shoot, it's a little late but I'll take four inches there.
As Babe Ruth said. "It ain't braggin if it's true".
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