Posted on 10/01/2007 7:13:21 PM PDT by jazusamo
One of the longest-running controversies in history has been that between those who believe intelligence to be inherited and those who see it as determined by environment.
If time has not resolved that question, it has at least led to sharper definitions of the question and a muting of some of the dogmatism among those on both sides of this issue.
The eugenics movement of the early 20th century was based on the fear that, since people of lower mental ability tended to have more children than people of higher mental ability, the average level of the nation's intelligence would tend to decline over time.
It is hard to escape the logic of that argument. But that logic could be its undoing.
The research of Professor James R. Flynn, an American expatriate living in New Zealand, has revealed that the number of questions answered correctly on IQ tests has risen very substantially in more than a dozen nations, in just one generation.
Such a thing should not have been possible, according to the assumptions and logic of the eugenicists.
Historically, those who emphasized the role of environment in intelligence went overboard in the opposite direction.
By the end of World War II, the racial fanaticism of the Nazis had discredited the role of heredity. Some even claimed that science had proved the intellectual equality of the races.
Science had in fact proved nothing about the intellectual ability of races, one way or the other.
A landmark scholarly article in 1969 by Professor Arthur Jensen of the University of California at Berkeley exposed the weaknesses in the prevailing environmental arguments, as Professor Flynn's later research would expose the weaknesses in the heredity arguments.
Unlike others on the heredity side of the argument, Professor Jensen....
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
I am sure that would be the case. There are many possibilities if we obtain a better understanding of the mind. That is why the value of this knowledge makes it the ultimate technological prize, the greatest potential for material payoff.
I would have thought Ashkenazi Jews would have been your choice, but that will do as well. There are lots of others of course - Parsis, non-Muslim Indians in general, Armenians, Koreans, Japanese, etc., as well as most European groups, lets not forget.
The fact that there are so many of these groups, and that they are so ethnically and culturally diverse, leads me to think that it should be relatively easy to find a common success factor, and I am tending to the possibility of some humble, simople cultural trait, perhaps some parental behavior in early childhood.
I agree. Buyawas’s observation in post #39 back up the point you’ve made, wheras Chinese tend to succeed regardless of their circumstances and/or backgrounds or ideology. That the Chinese tend to score higher than all other groups in inherent intelligence probably has everything to do with that. That they continue to do so despite Communism: amazing.
Creeping mandarism (a class that knows the real deal) can only contribute to China’s inevitable failure if that country continues to pretend to be Communists. They’re too tied to commercial interests all over the planet to continue that facade for much longer.
It’s their distaste for social disruption that has prevented this before now. Their government has grown comfortable with a self-perpetuated illusion of “ultimate power” and a conflict will be required before such people will relinquish that illusion - despite the fact that their ideological Communism has been thrown over for practical Capitalism for a long time now.
“What is intelligence?”
The antonym to democrat.
And a good education is increasingly harder to achieve in the public schools.
It is as if the government wants to maintain your "vicious cyle". Which, of course, liberals do.
Being a merchant does not need strength, health, and endurance as much as it needs being smart. A smart merchant could afford to feed many children, while a stupid merchant would get cheated and be unable to support a family. Over time, ethnic groups that were primarily in a "merchant" niche would select for intelligence
“The eugenics movement of the early 20th century was based on the fear that, since people of lower mental ability tended to have more children than people of higher mental ability, the average level of the nation’s intelligence would tend to decline over time.”
Mr. Sowell! That theory works perfectly for Liberals, LOL! The best we can hope for is some sort of “kick-back gene” that produces Conservatives from those scary “love matches.”
Anyway, Love you! :)
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