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Unless they control for the heritability of intelligence this is a "wet streets cause rain" story.
by Moshe_Silnorin 10y ago
Unless they control for the heritability of intelligence this is a "wet streets cause rain" story.
- ryandrake 10y agoNot to mention the heritability of economic status. Rich families have rich kids that grow up to be rich adults. News at 11.
- andrepd 10y agoThus is the right answer, not "inheritability of intelligence". Economic status propagates through generations much more directly than any genetic quality like intelligence (which isn't even a quality commanded to a significant degree by genetics)
- aoeusnth1 10y agoWhy not both? And are the scare quotes suggesting that intelligence isn't heritable?
- ars 10y ago> Economic status propagates through generations much more directly Economic status only lasts on average 3 generations. > genetic quality like intelligence (which isn't even a quality commanded to a significant degree by genetics) Actually quite the opposite. Intelligence is almost entirely genetic. The reason you think economic status propagates is actually that intelligence propagates, and intelligence is strongly correlated with income.
- barry-cotter 10y ago> Economic status only lasts on average 3 generations. Gregory Clark's work "The Som Also Rises", "A Farewell to Alms" and his various articles suggest the heritability of socioeconomic status is around 0.7 and is uniform across all human societies he and his team have studied. The upper class maintain their social status if not their wealth. The same surnames that were over represented among Qing dynasty mandarins are over represented among upper level PRC officials. One in five Swedish prime ministers have had surnames indicative of noble ancestry when holders of said surnames are ~1% of the population.
- andrepd 10y agoSource for those claims?
- tsmffh 10y ago> (which isn't even a quality commanded to a significant degree by genetics) Evidence?
- andrepd 10y agoThe figure most often quoted is 0.5 for inheritability of intelligence (doi:10.1007/BF01067188), and don't forget this means genetic+environmental factors. Inheritability of wealth of course depends on the specfic society, but the figure of 0.7 was quoted by another commenter below.
- rimantas 10y agoThis is not the first comment if this type there. But reading may have nothing to do with family's wealth. I grew up in really poor family (heck, we still had dirt floor on our kitchen when I was little), but I read a ton. Why I was able to do it? Public library and school library.