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To play devils advocate, the success of Asian Americans and Jews could also be explained by genetics. My own biases as well as basic knowledge of the respectiv

To play devils advocate, the success of Asian Americans and Jews could also be explained by genetics. My own biases as well as basic knowledge of the respective cultures makes me fairly certain that it's culture in both cases rather than genetics, though.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
The issue with claiming that genetics causes the success of certain races is that there is greater genetic variation within races than between them, and that there has been no discovered correlation between certain genetic traits and success. Plus that kind of thinking can lead to racist discrimination, which isn't good.
- namenotrequired 9y ago
  > there is greater genetic variation within races than between them This is true, which is why we can only say something useful about averages between populations, but not extrapolate to particular individuals. > there has been no discovered correlation between certain genetic traits and success This is very false. IQ is largely genetic, and the biggest predictor of life success of any kind, especially in relatively well developed societies.
  - feiofh398r39rty 9y ago
    IQ also correlates with future-orientation, which is basically self-control and anti-criminal behaviour. Being more or less likely to commit a crime is a huge success predictor.
  - tabeth 9y ago
    Have any evidence that IQ is "the biggest predictor of life success of any kind, especially in relatively well developed societies"?
  - afpx 9y ago
    ‘Biggest predictor’ sounds like hyperbole. Though, if true, it would be useful to know. Money could then be directed to research and policy that helps increase IQ.
    - greenrd 9y ago
      > Though, if true, it would be useful to know. Money could then be directed to research and policy that helps increase IQ. If I ever get really rich, that is what I plan to do. But the Flynn Effect has started to slow down or stop in many countries, indicating that we've plucked all the low-hanging fruits and we're running out of obvious ways to do that. We'll probably fall down slightly in terms of average IQs in the population before IVF and genetic selection allows us redress the problem. Don't mention the E word (eugenics) though - germinal choice is a better euphemism.
  - noobermin 9y ago
    Hmm, IQ is highly affected by environment though.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago

The issue with claiming that genetics causes the success of certain races is that there is greater genetic variation within races than between them, and that there has been no discovered correlation between certain genetic traits and success. Plus that kind of thinking can lead to racist discrimination, which isn't good.

namenotrequired 9y ago
> there is greater genetic variation within races than between them This is true, which is why we can only say something useful about averages between populations, but not extrapolate to particular individuals. > there has been no discovered correlation between certain genetic traits and success This is very false. IQ is largely genetic, and the biggest predictor of life success of any kind, especially in relatively well developed societies.
- feiofh398r39rty 9y ago
  IQ also correlates with future-orientation, which is basically self-control and anti-criminal behaviour. Being more or less likely to commit a crime is a huge success predictor.
- tabeth 9y ago
  Have any evidence that IQ is "the biggest predictor of life success of any kind, especially in relatively well developed societies"?
- afpx 9y ago
  ‘Biggest predictor’ sounds like hyperbole. Though, if true, it would be useful to know. Money could then be directed to research and policy that helps increase IQ.
  - greenrd 9y ago
    > Though, if true, it would be useful to know. Money could then be directed to research and policy that helps increase IQ. If I ever get really rich, that is what I plan to do. But the Flynn Effect has started to slow down or stop in many countries, indicating that we've plucked all the low-hanging fruits and we're running out of obvious ways to do that. We'll probably fall down slightly in terms of average IQs in the population before IVF and genetic selection allows us redress the problem. Don't mention the E word (eugenics) though - germinal choice is a better euphemism.
- noobermin 9y ago
  Hmm, IQ is highly affected by environment though.