To: Ilaine who wrote (4994 ) 6/16/2001 12:58:29 AM From: Maurice Winn Read Replies (1) | Respond to Okay, so much for the IQ in the plague theory, perhaps, but I suspect the data on just how many of which groups were got isn't very reliable. Most challenges preferentially get those not smart, well-placed and quick-witted. That's just how evolution works for humans. That's why humans have got smart, quick brains [to varying degrees].As for IQ and race - these topics have become so discredited that it cannot be the basis of polite general discussion. Once you have uttered a truism like higher IQ is a survival trait, what meaningful have you said, and what more can you say? >Are you saying that all Jews are more intelligent than all Arabs? > Huh? How on earth could you conclude that from what I wrote? Anyone who gets that from what I wrote is obviously not in the high IQ part of the population. Because one group has a higher average than another, doesn't mean all members of the group are higher than the other group. I'm sure you understand that. They are overlapping normal distributions. If not, what difference does it make? > If you are trying to understand why things happen, such as why is Japan's GNP per capita higher than everyone else's [almost], why their crime is lower, why different groups do better than other groups, it's not a bad idea to figure out the variables which might influence the outcome. If there are national differences, then the reasons for those differences can be investigated. That's how epidemiology works. "Hey, look at all those people over there getting leukaemia. Why the heck is that?" Then you check out the variables and find a correlation. Then figure out a mechanism to see if the correlation is due to causation or co-incidence. "Wow, look how well all those people do at school, earning a living, having happy, long lives! I wonder why that is? Well, what's different from one group to the other?" Maybe the groups not doing well just need a vitamin supplement. Maybe Japanese eat a lot of fish, but Europeans don't and should [when their mothers are pregnant or when they are very young] to get smarter. Maybe, as Jay Chen says, it just is. But maybe it's for another reason.
